Go the Distance
by Danny Phantom SG-1
Summary: Ryan has Leukemia and is having trouble dealing with it, but luckily he has his friends...sort of a sequel to “Stocking up on Obsession,” but is really a stand alone. Ryancentric, Rypay friendship, Ryella and Ryelsi friendship...or perhaps more.
1. Chapter 1

**DPSG1/N: By my friend. All reviews will be forwarded to her and I shall reply to you as she commandeth. I read it, but didn't proofread myself. I'm assuming she already did that...however, if you spot an error of some sort while reading, we would really appreciate knowing about it. Thank you so much and enjoy.**

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Life at Lava Springs continued on after the rivalries that had erupted for the Lava Springs talent show. It was early August now, with Troy and Gabriella once again staring dreamily into each other's eyes while they worked, and everything seemed to be back the way it should be. 

Except for Ryan Evans. He enjoyed hanging out with his new found Wildcat friends and he was happy that Sharpay was finally going out with Zeke, but the fact was that Ryan had a problem.

It was 2 AM and Ryan lay in his bed whimpering softly. It was summer in Albuquerque which meant it was hot, but it shouldn't have been _this _hot. He was shaking as if from cold and yet he felt as though he were burning up. His bed was literally dripping from the sweat coming off of his body and sleep wouldn't come.

This just wasn't normal for a seventeen year old, healthy male. Ryan knew this. He also knew it was normal to bleed from your mouth every time you brushed your teeth, and it certainly wasn't normal to develop large bruises from barely bumping into objects.

Ryan had a problem, but the real issue was that he didn't want anyone to know. Because if people knew, he would have to be taken to the hospital and diagnosed and everyone would treat him differently with those pitying glances. Just like they had when he was eight.

Of all people he was afraid would find out it was Sharpay. His twin had the eyes of a hawk and could sense something was wrong just by looking at you. She knew every symptom in the book from his last bout, and she would know. There were no two ways around it.

But the least he could do was keep it a secret as long as he could, though it might only be days before she noticed. Hopefully it would be longer.

Sighing in frustration Ryan turned on his side and shivered again before shutting his eyes to catch a few hours more of sleep before morning came and the Wildcats would be back at Lava Springs.

**-HSM---HSM** **---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM--**

Ryan meandered down past the golf course on his way to breakfast at the club house. In the summer all the Evans' meals were taken down there since the family cook worked in the club house in the summer months. Fortunately this meant that he could request his friends as waiters and give them a break by requesting all of the wildcats to keep him and Sharpay company. It made breakfast more fun than it had been for years.

This morning Ryan had gone with the comfortable look with his favorite pair of jeans (Shar absolutely loathed them), and his navy 'New York' t-shirt. He decided to go hatless for once and he had a comfortable pair of brown and white sneakers on. So he wasn't exactly stylish, but he certainly was happy.

Throwing open the glass double doors to the clubhouse, Ryan strolled in not surprised to see Sharpay and the rest of the Wildcats sitting around and eating breakfast.

" 'Morning, Ryan!" Gabriella called out when she saw him.

Everyone else turned around and shouted to him too. Ryan grinned, greeted the girls with 'good-mornings' and the guys with high-fives, and then sat down between Kelsi and Sharpay who had saved a seat for him.

Sharpay waved at a waiter, "Yoo-hoo! Take his order!"

As the waiter rushed over Ryan blushed and tried to say, "I don't think I'm too hungry …" but he stopped mid-sentence as Sharpay looked at him.

Sharpay glared, "Look at yourself! You look like you've lost a ton of weight! You have to eat!" Turning to the waiter, "He'll take scrambled eggs, waffles with whipped cream, hot chocolate, and bacon." She turned back to Ryan, "Anything else?"

"Nope," Ryan muttered, his face still red as he stared at the table. His stomach had felt queasy just listening to Sharpay name off the food.

Sharpay waved the waiter away before turning back to Ryan. She paused before squinting her eyes in her probing way and after staring him for much too long asked, "What's wrong with your face?"

Ryan stared back, his mind reeling with the shock of the odd question. "What?"

"I said, what's wrong with your face?"

"I heard you, I just wondered what you meant."

"Then rephrase your questions," she said rolling her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

By this point the entire rest of the table had their eyes upon the twins' odd conversation. Gabriella had her head cocked as if trying to understand a young child speaking, Troy's eyes attested to the fact that he was lost, Chad was grinning at the absurdity, and Kelsi looked nervous for Ryan's sake. Taylor continued eating her eggs while scrutinizing them like some bizarre species, Jason blinked rapidly in confusion, Zeke's eyes were wide and surprised, and Martha had completely stopped eating and was staring at her plate in a form of unease unconsciously imitating Ryan's own state of discomfort.

"What're you talking about, Shar?" Ryan asked again uneasily.

Sharpay if possible stared harder her scrutinizing gaze becoming harder, "I meant when I gave your order you turned green. That would constitute something being wrong with your face."

Clearing his throat he murmured back, "Right. Well my face and I are not green. We're fine."

Sharpay shrugged, "I'll believe you when you eat."

Ryan smiled back with his most sincere fake smile, "Course, Sis, but I'm not real hungry."

"Prove you're fine by eating," she ordered her gaze becoming harder and just plain scary. "Otherwise you're getting on a scale and I'm taking you to a doctor if you're below 140 pounds."

"Hey, I never said I wouldn't eat!" Ryan exclaimed his eyes wide. "I'm fine! I don't need to see a doctor." Then pretending to be oblivious to her real meaning cried, "What are you implying? That I'm anorexic?"

"Just eat," she growled in response.

By this point all the Wildcats were feeling very uncomfortable about witnessing this apparently personal Evans's conversation. Everyone slowly turned their eyes away and began eating again. Kelsi just looked at Ryan with a comforting and yet concerned look. Ryan was sure his face was a brilliant red from listening to Sharpay's embarrassing tirade in front of everyone.

Moments later the doors from the kitchen opened and the waiter reappeared with Ryan's food. Everyone looked up from their food tentatively at Ryan. With a deep breath Ryan put a smile on his face, put the napkin on his lap and began to cut his waffles. Slowly he took one bite.

His stomach cramped up on him and he swallowed as best as he could. Sharpay and the others appeared satisfied, however. Sharpay nodded and went back to the flirting with Zeke as she had been before Ryan came in. Everyone else turned away as well and continued their conversations.

Ryan again picked his loaded fork up toward his mouth in slow motion before his stomach suddenly revolted. Before he knew what he was doing, Ryan had dropped his fork on his plate, knocked his chair over backwards and was half-way to the door before he fell to the ground dispelling the one bite of waffle he had just managed to eat. He held his stomach and whimpered softly, when he realized there was a comforting hand on his back.

He looked up into Kelsi's brown eyes that were filled with concern. He waved his hand as if to intone that he was fine before turning to finish his bout of nausea with some dry heaves.

When he was finally done he pulled his legs toward him until he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He looked around and only now noticed that the Wildcats were all standing up and at different places in the room, from Gabriella talking quickly into her cell-phone, Zeke and Chad rushing forward with rags and a bucket, Taylor holding a glass of water out to him, Kelsi rubbing his back in comforting circles, Troy, Jason, and Martha standing by the table uncertainly, and finally Sharpay kneeling in front of him her face with a calm mask but with fire behind her eyes.

Taking the water from Taylor, Ryan's shaking hands brought the glass to his mouth where he began to sip slowly. He brought it down quickly as his stomach began to rebel again. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of the hand circling on his back and on keeping the water in its right place in his stomach. After a moment he was able to open his eyes again.

Sharpay was able to keep her voice even as she said, "Ryan, how long have you known?"

"Known what?" Ryan murmured, still not wanting to admit the truth.

"How much did you lose?" She continued.

"Only about … thirty…" he whispered.

"POUNDS?" Sharpay asked her eyes bulging.

"…Yes…"

"Ry …" She crouched and stared him in the eyes, "How long have you known it was back?"

"Only … a month or two …"

Taking a deep breath to hide her rage from her brother she said in a crisp, icy tone, "And why didn't you tell me?"

His blue eyes met hers in a quiet pleading way that she could never resist, "…denial?"

"Tell me the truth," Sharpay said, glaring.

"I don't want to do it all again," he began. "I wanted to keep singing and dancing, and I didn't want chemo, and hair loss, and everybody looking at me and pitying me … and … and … I just wanted us to have a normal summer and senior year."

Sharpay could tell it was the truth, but she was still angry that he hadn't thought it out. "And how would this year be normal if no one knew and one day you just keeled over and died, hm?"

Ryan's eyes traveled down and stared at the floor, "Guess it hadn't really … occurred to me…"

"Well let it occur to you now," Sharpay said softly. Looking up she called to Gabriella, "Is the nurse on the way here yet?"

"Yeah, she's on her way," Gabriella responded, but her eyes were remaining on Ryan as he sat on the dining room floor. Chad and Zeke had begun to clean up the mess in front of him, while Sharpay waved Troy and Jason over to help Ryan to his feet. They bent on either side and held him steady while the world spun drunkenly for him. They helped him sit down just in time for the door to burst open and reveal a middle-aged woman carrying a large bag at her side. In a flurry she was standing over Ryan.

"Ryan Evans, what did you think you were doing?"

Ryan groaned softly and said, "I don't know, Annie, I'm sorry. Just ask Shar. I really am."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "I won't back up the fact that he's sorry. I personally think that he's proud he made it two months without us knowing."

Annie's mouth gaped open, "TWO months?"

Sharpay nodded curtly, "And knowing Ryan, since he said one to two months, it's probably more like three."

Annie shook her head as she pulled out a damp rag which she applied to his forehead. "You're burning up, boy," she said as she continued her administrations. "With a fever like that, we're going to get your blood-work done first thing tomorrow."

"Why not today?" Sharpay demanded, obviously unhappy at the news.

"Because," Annie said as she began to stroke Ryan's blonde hair, "Today Ryan is going back to the house and will be relaxing on the couch while I call the hospital and set up the tests."

Sharpay huffed softly and muttered, "If he dies today it'll be all your fault."

Ryan's head was still spinning, but he managed to groan out, "I'd be a lot worse if I was going to die."

Gabriella finally broke in asking the question all of the Wildcats were thinking, "Um, guys? What exactly's going on?"

Sharpay frowned at her brother before turning to face Gabriella, "Ry's Leukemia is back."

Little gasps came from the girls, and the guys eyes all went wide as they all scrutinized Ryan.

Ryan shook his head slowly, "No, _just maybe_ its back."

Sharpay threw a fist down at the table, "You idiot!" she cried, "Of course its back! Otherwise you wouldn't have been hiding this from me for three freaking months!"

"Two," Ryan corrected quietly.

"And if it's too late for any good treatments and you die," Sharpay said, her eyes snapping with anger, "I will completely blame you at your funeral!"

Annie glared at her, "Sharpay Evans! That is not appropriate!"

Suddenly pent up tears began streaming down her face, "But if he dies …"

"I'm not going anywhere," Ryan said, attempting to stand up, but Annie held him down, "Shar, I haven't given up … just don't … don't give up on me. Not yet"

Sharpay groaned and whispered, "Ry, I haven't given up on you … but you just made it so much harder," She looked him straight in the eye as her voice changed back to normal Sharpay, "Just think for once, will ya?"

"Will do," he murmured.

"Alright, let's get you in the golf-cart, mister," Annie said, doing her best to sound cheerful. Unfortunately both twins glared at her. Annie sighed, "Fine, you're making me do this: Ryan Evans, get your butt into that cart, or so help me if I don't call your father and make him come home. And Sharpay, if you aren't with me, you're against me, little missy, and as such I'll make sure your brother's not the only one in trouble."

The twins looked at each other and seemed to silently agree to do as their nurse told them to. They both knew they should listen to Annie: she had been more of a mother to them for 17 years than their own mother had.

The Wildcats all shared glances with each other, having found the one force in the world that could make the Evans twins back down. As Ryan, Sharpay, and Annie disappeared out the door, Gabriella looked around at her friends. "What did Sharpay mean about the Leukemia being 'back.'"

Kelsi answered for everyone, "When Ryan was eight he had it…. He nearly died." She ended in a whisper.

Gabriella looked extremely distressed, "That's so sad!"

Taylor finally slumped down into a chair and said, "I can't believe he wouldn't tell anybody when he knew it was back."

Chad shrugged as he wrung out the rag he had been using to scrub the floor with, "To tell you the truth, I'm not all that surprised. I mean, Evans is made of better stuff than we thought … he's tough."

Taylor shook her head, "It's not so much that he's tough, it's that he wouldn't think that he was really hurting himself more by not telling."

"I hope it's not too late for treatment," Kelsi said softly, looking at the floor.

Zeke's eyes went wide, "Is that possible?"

Martha picked a napkin up off the table to fidget with and sighed, "Yeah, I should think so. You know, I'd completely forgotten that Ryan had ever had it before. He was really sick, wasn't he?"

Troy began to nod, "I kinda remember that. I mean, I didn't know Ryan all that well, but I remember he fell asleep in that one class and no one could wake him up. It was pretty much the creepiest thing ever."

"Dude," Chad cut in, "I totally remember that! He was all pale and just lying there, and the teachers were calling the hospital and everyone was completely freaking out."

Martha started nodding too, "Especially Sharpay. She was really scared."

"Heck, everyone was!" Chad cried.

"What happened?" Gabriella asked, her eyes wide.

Taylor shrugged, "I wasn't in the room, but I was in the hall when they were carrying him out on a stretcher. He was in the hospital for a while after that though. Wasn't everyone saying he wouldn't last more than a few weeks by that point?"

Jason scratched his head, "Yeah, people _were_ saying that."

"As morbid as it sounds," Gabriella began, "why didn't Ryan die?"

Kelsi was the only one who knew the answer to that, "Sharpay gave him bone-marrow for a marrow transplant. Apparently it worked," she said with a tiny shrug.

Troy looked at her his forehead scrunched up in slight confusion, "How'd you know that, Kels? I'd never heard that."

She blushed slightly, "Well, when Ry was sick I went to visit him sometimes. He'd always been really nice to me, and so I wanted to be nice back."

Martha smiled, "That was really nice, Kels!"

"Well," Kelsi said with a shrug, "Ryan needed a friend, and I thought I could be that friend … of course he always had Sharpay. But he told me that before they were going to try the procedure. He said Sharpay was pretty much the bravest person ever."

Everyone in the room smiled at that … it was a completely Ryan-like comment to make. Finally Troy looked up and said, "Hey guys, we need to get back to work."

Jason jumped up, "Yeah, Fulton's freaky when he's mad."

Everyone quickly scurried back to the kitchen to their tasks, while Kelsi and Gabriella remained in the room. Kelsi sat with her hands covering her face, whispering softly to herself. Gabriella walked over and put a hand on her back.

"Kels," she whispered to her friend, "Ryan got it into remission last time. I'm sure they'll do it this time too."

Kelsi looked up at her, her eyes wide behind her glasses, "I hope so," she murmured before giving Gabriella a half-smile and walking back to the piano room.

Gabriella watched her go before turning to toward the pool. "I hope so, too." Gabriella said under her breath.

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**You might see this as a continuation of sorts of my friend's other story, "Stocking up on Obsession," but it's got slight differences, so it pretty much is a separate, more elaborate story. The next chapter will be posted as soon as I'm done proofreading. Again, errors, questions, concerns, comments etc. are all appreciated. Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

**DPSG1/N: Merry early Christmas! Chapter two of my friend's story is completed, thanks to the onslaught of wonderful reviews we received. I don't think I replied to anyone's reviews for chapter one, but I plan on replying if you review this chapter...it just might take awhile. Sorry for the lateness and inefficiency, folks, but we're both very busy this time of year. Please let us know how this turned out. I actually proofread this time, so mistakes are mine. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 2**

Sharpay paced the floor of the Evans' large living room while watching Annie get Ryan onto the couch, with the large quilted blanket their grandmother had made tucked up around her brother's head. In her mind she was going though a quick check-list.

_Weakness or fatigue, check. Fever?_ She looked over at her brother's bright red face and Annie clicking her tongue in dismay as she checked the thermometer. _Check._ _Loss of appetite? Um, yeah! So, check. Weight loss? Oh yeah. Excessive bruising and bleeding? Well …_

Sharpay paused, before turning around and bolting up the large flight of stairs, shoving Ryan's bedroom door open, then his bathroom door, and stopped for breath at his sink. She inhaled deeply before walking over to his trash-can, and muttering under her breath, "I can't believe I'm doing this," before looking inside.

Right near the top of the can were fluffy, white tissues, all crumpled up and sporting the same evidence on each one. All of them were smeared in now almost black-in-color blood. Sharpay suddenly felt another burst of anger, first aimed at her stupid brother for not telling anyone, and then at herself. How the heck had she not noticed any of this earlier?

She wandered back downstairs, finding herself standing back in the family room with her brother. Ryan opened his eyes to look at her for a moment, before seeing the steam practically pouring out of her ears; he quickly closed his eyes again.

Sharpay marched over … her checklist wasn't finished yet. She ripped the big blanket off of her brother as he cried out, "Shar! What the …." Patience waning she grabbed his arm and rolled up the sleeve. Ryan attempted weakly to pull away, but in his sickly state and with Sharpay made stronger by her rush of anger, he really didn't have a chance.

Sharpay stopped, horrified, even though she had been expecting it. On Ryan's arm was a large, ugly green and brown bruise. She jumped away as Ryan quickly rolled his sleeve back down.

By this time Sharpay was too upset to even keep her check-list in her head as she cried out accusingly, "Check and CHECK!"

It was evident that although Ryan was thoroughly confused, he was feeling too guilty to question his sister's outburst. Instead he whispered, "Shar …"

Unfortunately, Annie, who had been in the next room scheduling Ryan's tests with the doctor's office for the next day, heard the outburst and stormed back in crying out, "Sharpay Evans, you leave your brother alone! He needs to rest!"

Sharpay was still furious, "I hate you, Ryan! How could you? How could you do this to me? I thought we trusted each other, but you lied to me. I can't believe you did this!"

Annie now grabbed Sharpay's arm and turned her young charge towards her, dropping her voice, "I know you have every right to be mad, honey, but _not now_. We'll discuss this when he feels better," raising her voice so Ryan could hear, "and we _will _discuss this," then dropping it back, "but right now we have to give him a hand by realizing he probably feels like crap. Got it, baby?" she ended tenderly, holding Sharpay's face in her big, soft hands.

Finally Sharpay nodded unhappily, and Annie broke into a big smile and chuckled, "That's the sweet child I know."

Sharpay smiled slightly at Annie's compliment. She was so used to being called "the Ice Princess," and her parents hadn't quite figured out the whole 'compliment your children' thing, but both Annie and Ryan knew her better side, and she knew they both loved her for it.

Turning around Sharpay muttered in a more subdued voice, "Sorry, Ry. Let me help you," as she pulled the quilt back up around him.

Annie smiled and asked, "Ryan, doll, do you need anything? You hungry?"

Ryan winced and shut his eyes as his stomach churned at the mere thought of food. Fortunately Sharpay knew what that meant and responded for him, "He's not hungry right now. In fact, he's kind of feeling queasy at the moment."

Annie nodded, "Alright then. We'll leave you to get some rest, alright, love?"

"Sure, Annie. Thanks," Ryan said softly as the nausea disappeared and was replaced by profound exhaustion.

Annie gestured for Sharpay to leave, and after Sharpay wiped his blond bangs out of his eyes, she backed out of the room, her eyes remaining on her brother. Annie put an arm around the teenage girl's shoulder and said softly, "Honey, we need to go talk about some things. You wanna sit in the sun room?"

Sharpay sighed softly, but nodded. Sharpay walked quickly, took the two small steps to the sun room in one step, and sat down on the big floral purple, green, and white couch. Annie came along a second later, before taking her seat on the light brown chair across from Sharpay.

Sharpay waited for a moment before looking up at Annie, "So? We going to talk, or are we just going to sit here?"

"Baby, I think you know what we need to talk about," Annie said, her eyes looking at Sharpay with her compassionate brown eyes.

Sharpay looked back and feigned ignorance, "No clue."

"I want to know what you want to do about contacting your parents," Annie said softly, cocking her head to one side as if asking a question.

Sharpay shut her eyes. Drat. She _really_ didn't want to talk to her parents right now. She could always force Annie to tell them, but … where the heck were they, anyway?

Sharpay's mouth turned into a frown before she asked suddenly, "Where are they, anyway?" leaving out the 'heck' for Annie's sake.

Annie sat back and thought for a moment, "I believe your father is doing business in Moscow and your mother is on a cruise with her friends in the Caribbean."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, and, after thinking for a moment, asked in uncertainty, "Annie? Can we wait until we have the test results? I mean … they might not want to be bothered with our … um … 'premonition' as Mother would say."

Annie nodded and said, "Baby girl, that's just what I was thinking, but I wanted to do what you wanted."

In the comfort of someone sharing her opinion, Sharpay felt her confident self returning to her, "Then that's what we'll do." She paused and looked back at her nurse, "Is that it?"

"One more thing, child," Annie said quickly, "Then you can go. I just wanted you to know, I've got Ryan scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

Sharpay looked slightly relieved that Ryan had an appointment, but then she began to look uncertain again, "I would _like_ to come, but …"

Annie grinned, "If you want to come, you can. No matter what your brother says, I'm sure he'll deep down be glad you're coming."

Sharpay grinned and knew in her heart that Annie was right. Suddenly her face began to fall and her voice came out in a choked whisper, "It's happening again, isn't it, Annie?"

Annie made her way over and sat beside Sharpay to envelop the girl in a hug as Sharpay continued, "I mean, Ry's going to be sick again. What if he dies, Annie? I don't know what I'll do if he-"

Annie cut her off, "I know, baby. I love that boy as much as you do, and I don't know what we'd do, but we can't think like that. For Ryan's sake we've got to be strong. We have to believe he'll be okay, or else he won't believe it either."

Tears had begun to trickle very slowly down Sharpay's face as the first burst of an emotion other than anger began to take over her confused mind. She hated this feeling because she knew what it was … it was fear. Everyone thought Sharpay was never afraid, but how wrong they were. She was scared silly that her brother might not always be by her side or, rather, behind her. She needed him … oh, how she needed him.

Annie held her tightly until Sharpay couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want comfort, not right now, not this soon. Sharpay pushed her nurse's arms away and then jumped off the couch and made her escape outside.

Sharpay still had tears flowing down her face as she ran her hardest through the country club, trying to reach her and Ryan's favorite spot. As she came over the hill she saw it.

The pond was a deep crystal blue, with the perfect golf-course grass fringing it, and the giant red-stone rocks stacked neatly like steps down to the water's edge. Running down the steps she suddenly stopped and sat down, draping her legs in the water. So what if it wasn't sanitary? At the moment, Sharpay couldn't have cared less.

Her thoughts raced as fast as her heart pounded from her impromptu run across the club's golf-course. _Ryan, why Ryan? It's not fair, he doesn't deserve this! He's perfect … maybe too perfect. Is this punishment for being so perfect? No, not Ryan, please, not Ryan._ The tears came and she began letting out pained, broken sobs, as salty tears tracked their way down her face and landed on her perfect clothes and into her mouth.

At her new thoughts, she began gasping for air, the sobs coming loud and fast. _He's going to die. He can't die! Not my brother … not my Ryan. No, no, no, I can't live without … I can't. I'm not strong enough…_Suddenly a comforting hand rested on her shoulder and Sharpay jumped.

Looking up quickly, she saw Gabriella sitting, her own eyes filled with tears. Choking back her sobs and trying to replace her emotion-choked vocal chords with venom, Sharpay quickly spat out, "What do you want, Gabriella?"

Gabriella was slightly taken aback by the other girl's tone, but quickly regained her composure, "I just heard someone crying, and I was," she hesitated slightly, "…worried."

"Go away," Sharpay demanded coldly.

Gabriella felt her heart break at the words … just when she had first witnessed Sharpay being emotional, it was quickly covered up by a wall. Of course she felt horrible for Sharpay, but more than anything, hearing Sharpay crying had made her heart fill with fear for Ryan.

"Please, Sharpay," Gabriella said in such a pleading tone that Sharpay had to look up, "Will Ryan be okay?"

Sharpay glared and growled, "And why do you care?"

"Because," Gabriella said, her voice cracking, "He's my friend."

"He's _your_ friend?" Sharpay asked sarcastically. "And what do you think he is to me? A monkey?"

Gabriella was extremely confused, but her chest still ached with worry. "I just want to know," she answered in a subdued voice.

Sharpay's gaze softened almost imperceptibly, and she said as she turned her eyes back out to stare at the pond, "He's getting the tests done tomorrow. We'll know more then."

Gabriella nodded, and then asked, "Are you sure it is leukemia? I mean, if he hasn't been tested yet …" she trailed off.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "No, I just like to go around sobbing when I just _think_ my brother's dying."

Gabriella's eyes went wide again at the cross response, and so she remained silent.

Sharpay didn't know why, but hearing that Gabriella wasn't going to say anything, she suddenly felt rather guilty, and, mentally slapping herself for being so nice, she added, "Yeah, there's not a doubt in my mind that he has it."

Understanding that Sharpay's last sentence had been an attempt at making peace, Gabriella said, "How's Ryan?"

"Oh, that stupid, back-stabbing brother of mine?" Sharpay began, before feeling the guilt come back. "He's resting right now. He has a fever and whatnot, but hopefully the fever will break soon and he'll feel a bit better. Annie's keeping a close eye on him."

Gabriella found herself nodding even though she realized that Sharpay couldn't see her because she was looking out at the pond. Not knowing why she bothered, except that she was slightly curious, Gabriella commented, "So, you guys seem to know Annie pretty well."

Sharpay smiled, knowing that Gabriella couldn't see her face, "Yeah, she's watched us since Ryan first came home from the hospital as a baby."

Gabriella's eyes went way up, "Just Ryan? I thought you and Ryan were twins."

"We are," Sharpay rolled her eyes, "And everyone says blondes are dumb. We were both born prematurely, but I was able to go home a couple of days after I was born, but Ryan was in the Neo-natal section for, like, a month. When he came home, Mother and Daddy hired Annie to help with his 'special' needs," she said 'special' with air-quotations, "like handling the oxygen tanks and stuff. Then Mother and Daddy started doing their traveling thing, so Annie just stayed on and pretty-much single-handedly raised us."

"Wow," Gabriella murmured, "She must be pretty special."

Sharpay snorted, "We know Annie more than we know our parents. And we don't care, 'cuz Annie's better anyway."

Gabriella realized that Sharpay didn't want to be pitied, she wanted to be admired, yet Gabriella couldn't help pity the twins for having parents that couldn't care less about them. Not really knowing the best way to respond, Gabriella just nodded and said, "Right."

Sharpay pulled her feet out of the water and stood up, feeling better after being able to condescend Gabriella. It gave her the feeling of being in control of something, especially since the situation with her brother wasn't one she could control. She smiled a cold smile down at the girl who was still crouching at the water's edge.

"See you around, 'Gabi,'" Sharpay said in a chipper voice, imitating the other girl's way of talking. With that Sharpay walked quickly away, anxious to get back to the house and check on Ryan.

Gabriella waited until Sharpay was gone before walking back equally quickly to continue her duties as life-guard. Her heart was heavy in her chest as she thought about Ryan and the great guy he was. If Sharpay was so afraid, it must be bad … and they hadn't even done the tests yet. Was the end of this road the early death of such a sweet guy? With all of her heart, Gabriella hoped not.

**-HSM---HSM** **---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM--**

Kelsi sat in front of her piano, attempting to lift her fingers to lift some heaviness from her heart. Try as she might, however, her entire body felt like it was weighted down by sand, and she struggled to play the pieces that were usually able to soothe her heart.

Because Kelsi had always been quiet, the only person in the school who had ever noticed her was her fellow drama-club member, Ryan. They would share looks at the lunch table when Sharpay started acting weird or vindictive. Even if Kelsi knew exactly what Sharpay meant but she knew Ryan didn't, she would always pretend, for his sake, to be just as confused.

They had never had an outspoken friendship. I mean, seriously, two really quiet people laughing and joking around? Not going to happen. Instead it was more a friendship founded on the fact that they were always there for each other.

Yet here they were … Ryan was sick again, and Kelsi's heart was broken again. It couldn't happen a second time; it just wasn't fair … it just wasn't.

Looking down at her sheet music, Kelsi noticed that the notes were becoming more and more blurred until suddenly, everything became clear again as she felt the drops of water slide down her face. Some days when she looked at Troy and Gabriella laughing and joking happily, she would be sure that life was all happiness and that the world would straighten things out in the end.

But today, Kelsi was certain of one thing: life was not fair and never would be if bad things like having leukemia could happen to someone as sweet as Ryan … her best friend.

Suddenly her fingers knew what song to play. The sweet tones of "Everyday," the song she and Ryan had written together for the talent show, rose from the piano. As she played she remembered when Ryan had showed up with the lyrics in hand.

_There was a soft knock at the door before Ryan stuck his head through the doorway with a cheery, "Hey, Kelsi!"_

_With a quick smile Kelsi responded in kind with a, "Hey, Ryan."_

_He stepped through the door, quickly cleared his throat and said, "I know we've only talked a little about doing a performance for the talent show, but I wrote out some lyrics, if you want to read them." He blushed and added, "And don't be afraid to tell me if they stink."_

_Kelsi smiled at his humble attitude before quickly reading it. As she finished she felt her eyes filling with tears at its beauty. She looked up with a big smile, "Ryan, this is _really_ good!"_

_He smiled a little at that, "I was hoping you'd like it, but I don't write songs all that often like you do."_

_Kelsi shook her head, "I'm not really all that great myself, but where did you get the idea for the song? I sense there's more behind it than just what the words say."_

"_Spoken like a true song-writer," Ryan said with a playful grin on his face. "Actually, I was just thinking about how we should just live everyday, and we don't know how much time we have."_

_Kelsi nodded to show she understood, and then raised her eyebrows to indicate that he should continue his thought. He shrugged and added, "I also just wanted to point out that a journey is so much better when you share it with someone, because we don't know how long the journey will last."_

_Kelsi smiled, "That was … incredibly insightful."_

_Ryan grinned back, but the smile hadn't quite reached his eyes, "I try."_

_Kelsi grinned back, "You succeeded and hopefully my music will do your words justice."_

She finished the song, playing the last chord softly and letting it fade away. She only now realized how much insight Ryan's lyrics had held. Two months, or even three months ago, he had known that the cancer was back … he had known when he had written "Everyday."

Another tear trickled down her face. He had only realized that summer how much it meant to have friends, and he knew that he might have fewer days left than most of the student body at East High expected for themselves.

Wiping the tears from her eyes she wondered who exactly he wanted to share his everyday with. Maybe … no, not her, certainly. She mentally slapped herself. How could she be thinking about who Ryan might like when he might very well be dying?

She slapped herself again. No, he wasn't dying, he was just sick. Ryan had always insisted that she remember that when he was younger with Leukemia. He was strong, and he would live. Kelsi had to believe that.

That's when the door to the piano room opened, and Gabriella walked through and sat on the bench next to Kelsi. Neither girl said anything, until Gabriella let out a loud sniffle. Kelsi leaned over and gave her friend a hug.

It was now evident that Ryan's sickness would hurt everyone, not just Kelsi and Sharpay this time. Out in the kitchen the usual banter was replaced by the occasional sound of utensils scrapping or pots clanging. Beyond that, there was silence.

Without meaning to, Ryan Evans had made a place for himself in the hearts of every Wildcat at Lava Springs, and once that spot was made, it hurt everyone to imagine Ryan disappearing from their lives.

With a little sniffle Kelsi began playing "Everyday," but this time not just for herself. This time she played for all of the Wildcats.

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**Review, please, and let us know how we are doing. :) Thanks so much, everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DPSG1/N: Not much to say except I hope you enjoy this next installment by my friend. Sorry for the wait, but...you know how it goes. **

A week had passed quickly for all of Lava Springs as they waited for the results from Ryan's blood tests. Ryan had been a hard person to find all week, mostly because, as Sharpay explained, he was embarrassed that everyone was worried about him. He truly had no idea what to do with the sudden attention he received.

The Wildcats had cheered up slightly, almost feeling that no news was good news even though they all knew that the bad news could not be long in coming.

Jason was just folding napkins in the dining room of the clubhouse when Sharpay burst in yelling, "I need a coffee with cream and sugar to go! NOW!"

Jason jumped at the voice before running to the kitchen and calling out, "We need a cup of sugar with cream and coffee, now!"

Zeke stared in obvious confusion, "Dude, I've never heard that one before."

Jason just waved his hands in the air, repeating, "NOW! Sharpay wants it!"

Everyone else was now staring at Jason, while he stood looking extremely anxious. Sharpay then burst through the double doors screaming at Jason, "What part of 'now' don't you understand?"

Zeke blinked innocently at her and asked, "So you ordered a cup of sugar with cream and coffee?"

"No! I need coffee!" she said as she slapped Jason on the back of his head.

Suddenly they all heard a voice they had missed most of the past week, "Shar, we need to go! You can get coffee from the vending machine."

Everyone looked excited, but Kelsi's eyes lit up the most, as half of the kitchen staff pushed their way through the doors to see Ryan standing, hands in pockets, in the middle of the dining room. He waved shyly at his friends, still worried about their reactions.

He really shouldn't have worried, because, except for seeming more excited to see him than normal, they all greeted him in the usual manner: the girls squealed and gave him hugs, while the guys gave him hi fives and "man-hugs."

Chad grinned, "Dude, we haven't seen you all week! You weren't around to see Taylor laugh milk out of her nose!"

Taylor blushed before saying menacingly, "And it wouldn't have happened _Chad_ if you had more mature jokes."

Chad shrugged, "And yet you laughed."

Ryan smiled, "I have to say I'm sorry I missed the excitement."

Kelsi looked up at him, her heart glowing with the sight of him. She knew part of her despair was that they hadn't talked since his … well, accident, in the dining room last week.

She looked at him with some concern and asked, "So, you get the results today?"

Ryan nodded quickly, "Yeah, and technically we should be there now, so Shar, come."

Sharpay began in a whining voice, "I still don't have my-"

"Coffee!" Jason called out triumphantly as he sprinted from the kitchen and placed the cup in her hand. He rocked back and forth on his heels, hoping to be complimented on his service, or at least thanked.

Neither option had crossed Sharpay's mind. "Finally! Come on, Ry, we'll be late!"

Ryan rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled, "All right, Shar. I'm ready." He glanced around at all of his friends and said, "I'll hopefully catch you guys later."

A chorus of, "Yeah, see ya," "Good luck, man," and "Bye, Ryan!" met his ears as he followed his sister outside to his sister's bright pink car. Buckling himself in, Ryan looked out the back toward the clubhouse where all of his friends worked. With a deep breath he felt the car move carrying him toward a visit that might decide the rest of his life.

Ryan wished he could stop the car, get out, and run as far as he could away from it all. Unfortunately he knew he couldn't. He was traveling down a road with the end uncertain, yet he knew that he had to face whatever lay ahead.

Sharpay sensed her brother's apprehension and turned to him, trying to give him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Her own heart was filled with dread of what the future held for her brother, but she knew that she had to be strong for him.

The twins had signed in before finding two seats together in the corner of the waiting room. The room didn't have too many people sitting in it, which made Sharpay extremely thankful. She hated when other people tried to make small talk. She preferred her adopted motto "I don't ask, and neither will you."

Ryan fidgeted in his seat playing with magazines or just rubbing his hands together over and over. It certainly wasn't doing anything for Sharpay's nerves, so she suddenly grabbed his hand and said menacingly, "Stop … it … now."

Ryan's eyes got slightly bigger, but he stopped fidgeting and focused instead on taking deep breaths. He was just calming his heart down when a young nurse of about 27 called out, "Ryan Evans, Doctor Parks will see you now."

Sharpay was the first to the door, followed by Ryan who could feel his heart race faster than it had been minutes before. The nurse led them to a room with a large mahogany table and asked them politely to, "Sit and wait here for Doctor Parks. He'll be here in a minute. Make yourselves comfortable."

As the door closed Sharpay spoke out loud what they were both thinking, "Yeah right."

The nurse had been accurate, because when according to Ryan's watch 58 seconds had passed, the door opened again revealing a man with slightly graying hair, a long white coat, and a large pile of folders and papers.

The man quickly introduced himself as Doctor Parks and then shook both twins' hands before sitting down in a swivel chair on the other side of the table.

He began, "I'm sure you're both apprehensive to hear the test results, but I just want to quickly check something. Ryan, you had leukemia when you were younger, correct?"

Ryan nodded, "Yes, sir. I was eight."

Doctor Parks smiled slightly, "Thank you, young man." Hesitating with the great dislike of bearing bad news, the doctor cleared his throat, "To begin, the tests indicated that you have a raised white blood cell count in your bone marrow," Ryan's heart began to sink, "which would confirm that you do in fact have Leukemia." Doctor Parks paused a moment to let the information sink in before continuing. "Specifically, you have Acute lyphoblastic leukemia."

Ryan swallowed but his throat still felt as dry as if it were stuffed with cotton, "That's the type I had last time."

"Right," Doctor Parks confirmed. "Now when you were here for the tests we took a CT-scan in case a disease were confirmed, so that we would have a head start to see if the cancer had metastasized into any other areas."

Sharpay's mouth took over as her heart began to fail, "Has it?"

Doctor Parks said, "The good news is that it has not metastasized in either the brain or the spinal chord, which would mean almost certain death. However, the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and liver."

"Which means?" Sharpay asked gesturing with her hand that the doctor should continue.

"That means that it is spreading and that we need to talk about treatment to prevent organ failure," Doctor Parks responded calmly, "But before we get to that, I need to explain a problem that we will encounter with the specific mutations your cells have."

Ryan and Sharpay quickly glanced at each other, and Sharpay took Ryan's hand under the table and held it in her own. "Continue," Sharpay ordered.

"Ryan, you have a cytogenic change that is commonly called the Philadelphia chromosome."

"And that means exactly what?" Sharpay demanded.

"It means that Ryan has a rather … poor prognosis." Doctor Parks brow furrowed as he continued, "That specific mutation along with other factors such as being male, Caucasian, and over the age of ten comes together to give you a much lower chance of survival."

"How long would he have without treatment?" Sharpay asked, her voice coming out as more of a whisper.

"Without treatment, I'd give him nine months tops." Doctor Parks paused, "But of course with treatment we will hope to lengthen that and put it into remission again."

Although Ryan had no fight left, he decided, for Sharpay's sake to pretend like he did, asking, "So, what are you thinking treatment-wise?"

Doctor Parks smiled slightly hoping that the boy wasn't ready to give up just yet, "After reviewing what worked last time, along with the stage that the cancer is in now, my inclination would be to start a round of Chemotherapy as soon as possible, supplemented with radiation, steroids, and perhaps we'll look into the possibility of another bone marrow transplant."

Ryan slumped back in the chair and looked at Sharpay as if to say, _See? Chemo! Told you!_ If there was one part of having cancer he really hated, it was enduring chemo and the horrendous side-effects that accompanied it.

Sharpay finally broke in, "With all of that, what are his chances?"

"Obviously they would be increased over not taking any action," he began as Sharpay rolled her eyes, "but his chances would be closer to 23."

Sharpay could feel her heart crumple inside her chest …_So small a percentage?_

Ryan finally began to tune out Doctor Parks as his mind buzzed with the shock of the results. All Ryan wanted was for the man to shut up and leave so that Ryan could go home and collapse in his room.

Fortunately for him, Sharpay understood the blank, slightly glazed look in his eyes and finally cut into Doctor Park 's one-sided conversation with, "Got'cha. Call us in two days and we will gladly set up treatment dates, check-up dates, and anything else you and your minions can come up with." The grey-haired man stared in surprise at the teenager as she continued, "As for me and my brother, we're gone. Toodles!" She waved in a faux cheery voice before grabbing Ryan's arm and escorting him out of the door and to the car.

The drive home was completely silent except for the harsh breaths coming from Ryan in the passenger seat. Ryan was deep in thought, while Sharpay was busy trying to put aside her emotions for the moment so she could drive safely. Neither really noticed when they drove past the large Lava Springs sign or that they had reached the end of the long winding roads and were parked in the deserted parking lot.

Sharpay put the car in park and then cautiously turned the car off, killing the sound of the motor and leaving behind only Ryan's breathing … _in … out … in … out_. Ryan still stared ahead blankly, and by this point Sharpay was getting concerned.

She turned in her seat to watch him for a moment before whispering, "Ry?"

His big, innocent blue eyes darted over to catch hers with his brow furrowed into a question mark.

"Are you …okay?" she began, but then she shook her head at her own stupidity, "I mean, no, of course you're not okay. It's not okay, is it?"

When Ryan spoke he sounded like a little child again, "Shar? I'm scared."

The blatant admission took Sharpay's breath away for a moment as she considered how to respond. He was so honest … he was scared. He should be, too. Sharpay was scared silly and she wasn't the sick one. Finally she said, "Come on. Let's go inside."

Ryan suddenly shook his head, "No."

"Why not?" Sharpay demanded, but much less harshly than she normally might have.

"Because," he said looking around, "It's beautiful out, and I just can't go inside now. Inside it's like a … a morgue."

"Ryan!" Sharpay cried out, shocked and more than a little distressed, "Don't talk like that!"

"You compare things to morgues all the time!" Ryan responded composedly.

"But that was before-" Sharpay cut herself off before she said it. If she said the real reason why morgue-jokes were so suddenly off-limits it would be admitting that the news they had received was real. It was far too early for Sharpay to want to have that feeling of reality crashing down onto her.

Even though the sentence wasn't finished, Ryan knew exactly what his sister had meant to say. Though, truth be told, his comparison of the indoors to a morgue hadn't been a morbid joke: it was just how he felt. The outdoors were warm from the sun, bright light dispelling shadows, and alive with flowers and insects. The indoors was cold from the air-conditioning, dark from the curtains pulled tight over windows, and lifeless with the lack of parents or other people in such a large house.

Finally Sharpay sighed and bent to her brother's will. "Fine, then let's go … outside," she ended 'outside' with the minutest hint of sarcasm.

Ryan felt a small beam of pleasure making its way to his shadowed heart at the victory of getting his sister to agree to his suggestion and the smallest smile played on his lips.

They both climbed out of the car and began walking to a place they knew no one would be. Once they reached the large garden behind their house, Ryan and Sharpay sat down on the stone bench near a bed of sweet smelling Elkweed and once again lapsed into silence.

Finally Sharpay broke the silence, "You know, we have to call Mom and Dad."

"I suppose," Ryan murmured, his eyes half-closed as he absorbed the warmth emanated from the sun and let his fear slide away.

"I'd rather you told them," Sharpay tried again.

"Figures," was all she received in response.

"Why don't you call now?" Sharpay suggested, hoping her brother could take the hint.

Ryan grumbled, "That's a great way to ruin the moment," as his eyes snapped open and he looked at Sharpay. "Fine, I'll call them now."

Ryan quickly stood up, pulled the phone out of his pocket, and first dialed his mother's number, all the while beginning to walk out of the garden. After three rings his mother picked up.

"Hello?" Mrs. Evans voice answered.

"Mom? It's Ryan," Ryan said, attempting to sound chipper as he began wandering down the country club paths.

"Ducky! How good to hear from you!"

"Yeah, Mom, you too."

"I've just had the most lovely massage from a very handsome Spanish man. You wouldn't have believed it." She said immediately feeling the need to share some of her life with her only son.

"That's great, Mom." Ryan really wasn't in the mood for hearing about his mom's latest cruise ship crush. It always disgusted him, but now even more so.

"You sound preoccupied, Ducky. Tell Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Mom," he paused and took a deep breath before spilling it quickly, "I just had some tests done, and I have Leukemia again."

Ryan heard his mother gasp while he winced at the sound. "Oh, Ducky …" was the next thing she was able to utter, but to Ryan's ears it sounded much more like acting than actual concern.

Flushing red, Ryan asked, "Can you come home, Mom? I really want to see you." Despite his parent's distance he still loved them and felt like any boy that wanted nothing more than to be held by his mom and told that everything was going to be okay.

"Oh, Ducky," she repeated, but this time more apologetically, "I'm afraid I can't. You see, I'm in the middle of the Atlantic and they don't stop the ship for people. It's their policy." When Ryan didn't respond she added, "But you know if I could be there I would be."

Ryan took a deep breath before responding in his best 'sincere' voice, "It's okay, Mom. I know you're doing the best you can. Um … can you break the news to Dad for me?"

"Of course. I'll call him as soon as I can."

"Do you think he'll come home?" Ryan asked, although he already knew the answer.

"He's on a very important trip, but I know he would come home if he could."

"Okay, I understand Mom," he said quickly, hoping to cover over his second wave of disappointment.

"Well, Ducky, I have to go. The girls and I are going to do some yoga by the pool."

"Sure, Mom."

"Bye, Ducky. I love you!"

The words sounded hollow to Ryan's ears, but he responded very softly, yet very sincerely, "I love you, too." He'd barely gotten the last syllable out before he heard the click on the other end of the phone and the buzz of the broken connection.

Very slowly he pulled the phone away from his ear, closing it equally as slowly. His parents didn't care, not really. Heck, he bet every one of his friends cared more about him than his parents did. Weren't parents supposed to love their kids so much that they would die for them? Yeah, somehow he couldn't see his parents doing that … ever.

He suddenly realized he was standing right next to the gates to the pool. Ryan had always thought that watching water swirling and little kids laughing like they didn't have a care in the world was soothing to his confused and hurting mind. Quickly opening the door, he wandered in and sat down on one of the lawn chairs near a mostly abandoned corner of the pool.

He watched as the children of club members giggled and screamed as they jumped into the pool, racing with their friends through the light blue water. On a normal day this sight would have made Ryan smile, but today it only weighted on his heart. He watched as a couple of mother's talked with each other while keeping an eye out for their children. When one of the kids jumped in the water to splash them, the women simply shrieked before splashing the child back … they weren't mad … they were smiling.

He let out a small jealous sigh, when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around Ryan looked up and saw Gabriella watching his with a look of slight amusement covering up her concern.

"Hey, Ry," she said softly before taking a seat beside him on the lawn chair.

"Hey," he responded doing his best to force a smile on his face. Even the best actors have those days.

"So," Gabriella said carefully, "How did your appointment go?"

"Not so good," Ryan said, trying to keep up his smile but then failing completely, he reached up to rub his neck.

Gabriella's face fell a bit too, "What did they say?"

Ryan looked into her concerned brown eyes and decided to tell her, "The Leukemia's back. I have acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL. It's the same kind I had when I was younger…" he trailed off.

Gabriella's heart sank even though she had known the tests would probably reveal everything Ryan had just said. "But there's a good chance you'll still be okay, right?"

"Um …" Ryan began, "… maybe. There were lots of factors to consider, but I wasn't given a great prognosis." He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "But who knows?"

Gabriella felt sick, but she murmured, "Oh, Ryan," and threw her arms around him in a quick hug. "Have you told your parents yet?"

Ryan recoiled slightly as he remembered his hurt from just a couple of minutes ago. "I told my mom, and she's going to tell Dad."

Gabriella was just figuring out that getting answers from Ryan Evans was like trying to pull a dinosaur out of a tar pit … all she got were one sentence answers. "How'd your mom take it?"

"Oh, very well," Ryan said, slipping into slight sarcasm. "They seem content to wait to come home until after I'm done really needing them. You know parents; they're very considerate like that."

"What does that mean?" Gabriella asked, confused, and trying to understand by looking Ryan straight in the eye.

"It means," Ryan said, some of his anger subsiding and replaced with unhappiness, "They aren't going to come home early to be with me. I need them now, but they'll get home when they feel like it which, for all I know, could be weeks from now."

Gabriella looked taken aback, "Why won't they come home now?"

Ryan shrugged, "They have their excuses, but I think the real reason is that they don't like Sharpay or me when we're hurting. They only like us when we're doing something they can be proud of."

"But parents should be there when their kids are hurting!" Gabriella exclaimed, "That's when their needed most!"

"I suppose," Ryan said in a non-committal tone. He didn't want to out-right accuse his parents, after all. "But my parents aren't your … average … parents, I guess."

Gabriella fell silent for a moment before bringing her eyes back up to look at Ryan. "Are you going to be okay?"

Ryan tried to force a smile back on his face, "Yeah."

Gabriella nodded, before giving him another quick hug and then quickly walking away from the pool.

She finally reached the main dining building, where she quickly threw opened the door and rushed through, trying to reach someplace where she could be alone to think. Looking around, Gabriella spotted the perfect room: an empty lounge filled with comfortable couches and shelves of books. Dropping down onto one of the couches she thought back to her conversation with Ryan.

Ryan's words, _I wasn't given a great prognosis,_ rang through her mind. At the time his words hadn't had a great impact on her, but in that statement rested her new friend's future. She didn't know what the prognosis was, but … he might die. That thought hit her as profoundly as it had a week before, when Ryan hadn't even been tested.

Ryan might die, and with his death the world would never be the same again. Ryan couldn't die …

**Like? Love? Hate? Concerned? Mistakes? Anything you're feeling about this story, let it be known through reviewage (not that that's a word...). We'll try to respond in the best possible manner. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The long-awaited chapter four is up since my friend just finished chapter five. The movie _Serenity_ is mentioned in this chapter, as a forewarning, but you need absolutely no knowledge of it to understand the story clearly. Please enjoy and let us know if you still like this. Thank you**

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Kelsi took a deep breath as she stepped up to the massive wooden doors of the Evans' mansion. The house was mainly red brick, with large two-story tall windows towering up on both sides of the door. Although Kelsi had often gone to the Evans' house, it was still imposing. 

Finally she reached out one finger and pressed the doorbell before snatching her hand away. The sound of the bell echoed through the halls inside before subsiding. Moments later crisp, steady footsteps were heard from the front hall and the door opened to reveal a man dressed in a suit.

The man looked at her with an air of dignity, "Can I help you?"

Kelsi swallowed … she really hated strangers, "Yes … I was wondering if … is Ryan there?"

"Master Evans is not available at the moment. Anything else?" the man drawled.

Kelsi tried to smile and murmured, "Um, no, that's-"

"Wait!" a voice called from the top of the long staircase, and the butler nodded and opened the door slightly wider to reveal Sharpay coming down the stairs. "Wait," she said again as she reached the bottom.

"Thank you, Bruno," Sharpay said waving the butler away. She leaned against the door and looked at Kelsi, who was by now very flushed. "Kelsi, what do you want?"

Even though the question seemed rude and Sharpay was usually mean, the question didn't come across as though she was annoyed. Kelsi turned a little redder, "I just wanted to talk to Ryan, but … Bruno," she hesitated trying to remember his name, "said he wasn't here."

Sharpay nodded, "He's not. I haven't seen him since we got home, but he's probably around here somewhere."

"Oh, okay," Kelsi said quickly.

As much as Kelsi wanted to know how the appointment had gone she couldn't bring herself to ask Sharpay. It wasn't that she was afraid of Sharpay: after all, Kelsi had once refused to call her 'ma'am.' It was more that she was afraid of the answer, and afraid of upsetting her sometimes-friend.

"Maybe you can find him," Sharpay said after a moment of awkward silence. "Ryan probably wouldn't have gone too far. If you're around maybe he'll cheer up."

Kelsi blushed even brighter … was Sharpay implying that Ryan was happy around her? Which could imply a crush? No, that was highly unlikely … maybe.

Unsure of how to respond, Kelsi merely nodded and stepped off the porch to look for her friend. After she had walked down the path and reached the driveway Kelsi heard the front door click shut behind her.

Kelsi searched for Ryan in all of his favorite places like the music hall, the kitchen, the pool, and even every hole of the golf course without a trace of the blond boy. Giving up, Kelsi began to walk back to the clubhouse when she noticed a lone figure out on the baseball diamond. Could it be…?

The figure was wearing rather un-Ryan-like clothing, with a pair of jeans, cleats, and a plain white t-shirt. The hat was more in place, although it was a baseball hat … and it _was_ on backwards.

Kelsi took off at a slight jog toward the figure, slowing as she got within hearing distance. It was definitely Ryan, because she could hear him talking, or rather, rambling. As he talked he pitched a baseball as hard as he could toward the metal fence before reaching down into a basket of baseballs for another.

"Why?" Thunk, went the baseball as it struck the fence with force. "Why don't they care about me?" Thunk. "It's not _fair_," he emphasized the word fair as he pitched the next ball, only to have it strike the fence again. Thunk. "What did I do to deserve this?" he suddenly yelled into the sky. He suddenly turned and kicked the basket of balls over watching as they rolled across the ground in all directions.

One ball rolled into his foot. He kneeled and picked it up, turning it to look at every angle with the careful, unhurried glance of an artist. Very quietly he said, "Life's not fair. What am I thinking … I mean, there are so many people worse off than me."

He stood up and, still not observing Kelsi, looked up at the horizon. He threw the ball as hard as he could out toward the wide open red-rocked landscape before turning back around and saying a little louder, "But I'm not strong enough."

Without thinking Kelsi stepped forward and said, "You're the strongest person I know!"

Ryan twisted around to see who had spoken before relaxing at the sight of his friend. "Oh," he said, his face brightening a bit, "hey, Kels."

Kelsi could feel her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. She stayed where she was, but still managed to squeak out a, "Hey."

Ryan sat down on the dirt of the baseball diamond before he patted the ground next to him. After a moment he grinned, "Unless you don't like dirt."

Kelsi smiled back, seeing that Ryan didn't hold spying on him against her and she quickly sat down next to him. She didn't want to get her clothes dirty, but Ryan was more important than saving the 'Shout' she would now need to clean out the mud stains from her jeans.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Kelsi broke the silence, "I almost hate to ask, but … what happened today?"

Ryan fidgeted with a baseball for a moment before saying, "It's back." He looked up quickly to gauge her reaction before looking back down. "It's back, and it's not looking real good."

Kelsi could almost feel her brain shutting down and becoming numb as she listened. Ryan continued, "The prognosis isn't really good and it's metastasized in some semi-important to important organs, so I'm starting chemo soon."

Kelsi laid her hand on Ryan's shoulder as he went on, "My parents aren't even considering coming home … and I don't think I can do this again."

Kelsi whispered, "Of course you can."

Ryan looked back at her with the smallest of smiles beginning on his face, "It's not like I have much of a choice." He sighed, "I know I shouldn't be acting like this, but I just felt sort of like wallowing in self-pity for a little bit."

Kelsi's eyes went wide as she said earnestly, "No, you _should_ act like that! You have every reason to be sad. I'm not saying I want you to be sad, but-" Kelsi stuttered trying to figure out what she was trying to say.

Ryan broke in, "I get it, Kels. But no worries, the real Ryan's back." He was even able to get a full smile onto his face.

Kelsi could feel herself trembling and nearly ready to burst into tears, especially as she watched him acting so bravely. She quickly swallowed away the tears that had begun to form before asking, "Have you told everyone else yet?"

He shrugged, "Sharpay knows, of course, and I saw Gabriella earlier and told her, but that's it."

"Are you ready to tell everyone else?" Kelsi asked a little more softly.

Ryan sat still for a minute looking back at his hands before finally looking up, his brow furrowed slightly as he peered into Kelsi's face, "I don't know if I want to tell them at all."

"But they're going to find out eventually." Kelsi pointed out, slightly confused.

"No," Ryan shook his head with a little grim smile on his face, "The key word was that _I_ don't want to tell them. I was kind of hoping to convince Sharpay to do it."

Kelsi shrugged, understanding, but she didn't quite agree, "But when everyone else finds out from someone else, they're going to be hurt that you didn't tell them."

Ryan nodded, yet said, "I think I'm still going to force someone else to go."

Kelsi rolled her eyes, "That's really sweet, Ry."

"I try," he responded, giving her one of his patented grins. "Maybe I'll get lucky and Gabriella will let it slip."

Kelsi shook her head in dismay, "You're hopeless."

Ryan grinned and stood up before holding a hand out to help Kelsi up, "That I am." Kelsi and Ryan both quickly brushed the dirt off of their backsides before they turned around together to return to the main area of Lava Springs.

Ryan suddenly spoke again, "You know, I have this goal."

Kelsi continued walking, but glanced up at him, "Um-hm, and what is it?"

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the horizon before answering, "I want to be able to try out for the winter musicale, and then be around to see it."

Kelsi stopped walking and waited for Ryan to stop a couple of steps later and turn around to face her, "But you'll be in it; you won't be watching it."

Ryan paused, "Not necessarily. Shar will probably be in it and I'll want to see her, but I don't think I'll be in it."

Kelsi eyed him, trying to understand the meaning behind his words. She finally gave up and then began walking again. When she reached Ryan he fell into step with her. A moment later Kelsi said softly, "That's a good goal."

Ryan's only response was a quick nod.

**-HSM---HSM** **---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM---HSM--**

Originally Sharpay had been inclined to stay in the house and avoid people for the rest of the day, but the truth was that she was thoroughly sick of herself and ready to talk to other people. At first she had looked around for her brother but she finally decided to leave him alone: after all, he either wanted to be by himself or else he was with Kelsi. Either way, he wouldn't be too happy to see her.

Now Sharpay made her way into the kitchen where the Wildcats all were concentrating on the tasks before them. Finally sick of waiting for her friends to look up she cleared her throat, "AHEM!"

Everyone in the kitchen looked up immediately, but Zeke was the first to call out happily, "Hi, Sharpay!"

Everyone else gave a quick wave in her direction before Chad scurried over from where he had been standing, talking to Troy. "So," he began, "What's up with Ryan?"

Sharpay was slightly miffed by Chad's question. She knew it would come up eventually, but she had been hoping for a normal, happy discussion before returning to thoughts of her brother. Finally she looked up and noticed that all work in the kitchen had stopped and that all eyes were on her.

She stood and stared at each of them before saying, "We were right … it's back."

The anticipation everyone had been feeling vanished and was replaced by various feelings of sorrow. Taylor spoke up, "But is it very bad?"

Sharpay nodded and responded quietly, "Yeah, it's bad. We'll be lucky if he makes it through graduation."

Nobody knew what to do or what to say. Blank, pained looks crossed everyone's faces. Martha let out a loud sniffle, and the crème brûlée torch that Zeke was using continued to scorch the top as its chef ignored it. Troy fidgeted slightly, because, after all, he really didn't know Ryan that well, but it was uncomfortable to hear he was sick and to have all of his friends acting that strangely.

Taylor began to shuffle the papers in her hands again, but she wasn't even reading the words on the pages. Chad had the strangest of looks on his face, and he stared off at a random brick on the wall.

The doors suddenly banged open and everyone turned to stare at Kelsi and Ryan. Ryan could feel his face heating up as he waved uncertainly at his friends. Then he looked over at Kelsi and said, "Told you I might get lucky."

This seemed to break the uncomfortable silence, and Chad ran toward Ryan asking, "Hey, dude, are you okay?"

Ryan shrugged, still feeling a bit funny to have everyone staring at him, and said "I'm good, at the moment."

Everyone else stayed where they were, watching the exchange, yet attempting to continue their work at the same time. Pots clattered and knives chopped, yet the eyes of the room remained on Ryan.

Chad nodded before he said, "So, does this mean no more baseball?"

Ryan gave a little, shy smile, "Looks like."

Chad said, "Listen, it doesn't matter if you don't play sports. You're still one of us … just … get better, okay?"

Ryan just smiled back and nodded, his cheeks flaming, "'Kay."

The intense stares of the kitchen staff were becoming painful and Sharpay could tell her brother was getting uncomfortable. After thinking for no more than a moment she called out, "Ry, come on. We have a song to rehearse."

Ryan immediately perked up. "Oh, right!" he said in a chipper voice.

Chad looked at both of them and then said in a tone that could have used a 'duh' at the end, "It's the middle of summer. You don't have try-outs until January."

Sharpay glared at him, "They're called auditions, and if we want to be perfect and not have our parts stolen, we have to practice." Troy and Gabriella both shifted uncomfortably knowing who that jab was meant for.

Chad shrugged, "Suit yourselves."

Sharpay nodded curtly before calling out, "Ryan, come."

Ryan gave a little wave to his friends before turning and following his sister out the door. Once they were outside the doors, Ryan put out a hand to stop Sharpay from walking. She turned around to face him.

"Shar?" Ryan began, "Thanks. You know."

Sharpay nodded quickly letting no emotion cross her face and then turned around and continued walking. She called back, "So do you actually want to practice?"

Ryan took a few quick steps to catch her before falling into step, "I dunno. What are we doing this year?"

"A duet."

Ryan could almost feel his eyes rolling upwards, "Well, yeah, but which one?"

Sharpay shrugged slightly, not slowing her pace back towards their house, "We never did Humuhumu."

Ryan tried his best not to gag, "And maybe there was a good reason for that. I'm not really feeling very tiki-warrior-like."

Sharpay didn't respond for a couple of minutes, but she finally stopped, still not looking at Ryan. "You know," She began before pausing, "I'm not so sure that I want to practice today."

Ryan's brow furrowed a bit in confusion, but he let it slip, "Okay." He knew he wouldn't need to ask what Sharpay had in mind … when Sharpay thought something she always said it.

"Let's watch a movie," she said.

"Okay," Ryan said, willing as always.

"Let's watch … _Serenity_," Sharpay continued.

Now Ryan was shocked, "But Shar, that's a Sci-fi movie! You hate Sci-fi!"

"It's Joss Whedon, Ry. That means it's better than average Science-fiction."

Ryan began, "But-"

"No 'buts,' Ryan," Sharpay cried turning around and glaring at him. "We are going to watch _Serenity_, end of discussion."

Ryan nodded mutely, submitting to his sister's will. But that was the funny thing. Sharpay hated Sci-fi; it was Ryan who really enjoyed that genre. In fact, _Serenity_ was one of his favorite movies.

_Oh_. Suddenly it hit him. Sharpay was watching something she hated to make him happy. Sharpay hated touchy feely stuff and avoided it with a passion, but when push came to shove, Sharpay could be as nice (or nearly as nice) as Gabriella. With the tiniest of smiles on his face, Ryan followed his sister into the house.

As they kicked off their shoes in the entry-way of their house, Sharpay turned and said, "Ryan, sit down. I'll get the movie." Within a moment she was gone, and Ryan just shook his head with a smile. Sharpay could make the nicest gestures feel like it was just a way to stay in control. Ryan knew, however, that Sharpay hated to get movies from the dark room with burned-out lights in the mansion's basement.

Ryan went to the nearest linen closet and pulled out a thick quilt before retreating to the couch, popping out the recliner, and waiting for his sister to reappear. It wasn't long before he could hear her foot-steps nearing and he turned to see her carrying the DVD in her hand. After putting it in, Sharpay had been about to retreat to the other couch, but Ryan called out, "Sit over here, Shar."

When Sharpay hesitated, Ryan simply picked up the quilt and patted the seat next to him. She looked into his big blue eyes and could feel her heart ache for a moment before she walked over and sat down, murmuring, "Fine, fine."

As the movie began, there was a substantial gap between the brother and sister. The quilt covered them both, yet only their feet barely touched on the foot-rest. As the movie advanced, Ryan noticed that Sharpay was unconsciously moving closer, until during the final last stand Sharpay was leaned against him, and Ryan had his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder. The credits began to roll and with a sigh of contentment, Sharpay laid her head on Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan smiled and leaned back in his seat before closing his eyes and nearly drifting off into a peaceful nap. Right as he began to slip into sleep he heard his sister's quiet voice.

"Ry?"

Ryan woke up a bit, pushing away the tired fog from his senses, "Um-hm?"

Sharpay didn't face him, but continued to stare at the blank TV screen. "We haven't really talked about," she took a deep breath, willing herself to get the syllables out, "the leukemia."

Sharpay could feel Ryan tense slightly next to her. After a pause Ryan said softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sharpay hesitated, "I … I think so. Yes I do."

Ryan was fully awake by now, "What exactly are we talking about?"

Sharpay was beginning to regret bringing the conversation up. Talking about emotional subjects tended to bother her. She had trouble talking about really serious matters, and if anything had ever been serious in their lives before, this was it.

"I don't know." She hesitated, "You know, never mind. We don't need to talk about it."

She began to stand up when she felt Ryan's hand on her shoulder holding her there and then slowly turned her to face him. She looked into his face and was surprised. All at the same moment, his eyes held complete seriousness, and yet there was so much love and warmth and … understanding.

"Shar," he said softly. "If you don't want to talk too much right now, I understand, but … I need you to understand something."

Sharpay was captured by the seriousness and love in his face and voice. Ryan had always been small and rather timid. He was good at comforting without words, understanding when his whole being seemed to imply that he didn't. Now it was as though her brother had grown up. He was almost like that adult that sits down with you and, without being irritating, brings you a sense of peace just because you know their words are rooted in wisdom of years.

But he was only 17. A mere child. But as Sharpay looked into his eyes she began to feel calm and a little child-like herself. She had always been the older sibling in the pair of twins, but suddenly their places were reversed.

"What?" she asked, unable to look away.

The smallest of smiles adorned his face, and yet a hint of pain was also mixed into that smile. He took a breath and took her hands into his. "I promise that I will always be there for you. No matter what."

Sharpay suddenly looked away as a bout of pain went through her heart, "Ryan," she said doing her best to sound angry and not sad and afraid like she felt, "You shouldn't make promises you can't be sure you can keep."

"Shar, look at me."

Reluctantly, Sharpay brought her eyes back up to meet his. "Have I ever broken a promise, to you, or to anyone else?" Ryan asked in a quiet voice.

Sharpay bit her lip as she could feel tears welling in her eyes. Unable to speak for fear of crying, Sharpay shook her head.

Ryan continued earnestly, "And I never will. I may not always be here in this body," Sharpay cringed at that thought, "but I will never have left. I'll always have your back. You may not see me, but I'll be right here."

Unable to keep it back any longer Sharpay let out a long, whimpering breath as tears trickled down both cheeks. Her heart was so mixed up. Ryan had promised he'd always be there, but she needed him there to talk to, to sing with her, to know everything she thought without speaking. But the emotion she felt most was love, and that hurt more than anything else.

Because Sharpay knew that, despite what Ryan was saying, she couldn't live without him there.

Ryan's face looked at her, full of concern and love. Sharpay whimpered again and then leaned forward and hugged him as if letting go would mean he would float away. Ryan wrapped his arms back around his sister and he began to rock her and whisper, "It'll be alright. Everything will be alright."

And although the fear still lurked in the pit of her stomach, for the first time in a week Sharpay began to feel comforted. Everything would be alright if Ryan was beside her.

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**Comments? Questions? Concerns? I sound like a bad advertisement. Please review and let us know how we're doing so far. Tell us of any errors you spotted, as well, if it would not be too much of an inconvenience for you. Thanks for reading. Chapter 5 is written and will be posted at will. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello, world. My friend has now written up through chapter 7, so you can be sure of at least two more (splendid, if I do say so myself) chapters to come. Hopefully this shall not disappoint...though I didn't have time this week to proofread, so if you could please let us know of any mistakes, it would be greatly appreciated. Please review and let us know what you think so far! Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

Sharpay focused on keeping her footsteps silent as she glided past Ryan's bedroom. It was 9:00, so Ryan would normally have been awake by this point, but the day before had been long and stressful, and Sharpay knew that today wouldn't be any better.

Ryan had just had his first chemotherapy treatment, which had meant waking up much too early and leaving much too late from the hospital with a groggy teenage boy slouching in the passenger's seat. Ryan hadn't said too much, but he had been apprehensive waiting for at least a week before the scheduled date. He had done his best to hang out with his friends during that time, even hanging around in the kitchen to participate in the on-the-job chatter. Troy , Chad , Zeke, and Jason had invited him to play basketball, and Ryan played his hardest picking up on the game quickly. He had even written another song with Kelsi on Tuesday morning.

No one had noticed how nervous he was except for Sharpay … and Sharpay guessed that maybe Kelsi had noticed as well. Though Sharpay was almost certain that if Kelsi sensed it, that she still didn't understand the real reason Ryan was nervous.

Of course Ryan was aware of the long term effects of chemo: the hair loss, the cardiotoxicity, the chance of a hemorrhage. He even knew the last possible side-effect that Sharpay had seen on Wikipedia's list under 'Chemotherapy,' which was death. Good ol' Wikipedia. Yet Sharpay was sure the real reason Ryan was worried was because of the immediate effects.

When he was eight, the day of a chemo treatment Ryan had always felt pretty good, not much pain or discomfort. The day after, however, was a different story. He was sore all over, and tended to run a slight fever with bouts of nausea and diarrhea throughout the day.

Some adult had talked to their father and had mentioned how short-sighted his boy was, only looking at the short-term effects, when Vance Evans had said that Ryan had started tearing up once before a treatment. Sharpay had been furious and had stomped on the man's foot. Of course Ryan would be nervous about being sick. It was like if you knew you would get the stomach-flu; it's not fun to be sick, and the advanced knowledge doesn't help. Especially when Ryan knew that if there was no chemo he would feel fine. He had every reason to be apprehensive.

Sharpay was determined to let him sleep as long as he possibly could to lessen the time he would be awake and in pain. Slipping down the stairs she saw through the window a figure heading towards the front door. Flying down the last stairs, Sharpay ran to the door and flung it open to make sure the visitor wouldn't ring the doorbell.

On the steps stood Gabriella with a shocked expression, brows disappearing into her hairline, as Sharpay began to roll her eyes.

Gabriella cleared her throat, "What was that for?"

Sharpay gestured to the door, "You mean beating you to the door?"

Gabriella nodded.

Sharpay shrugged, "I'm trying not to wake up my brother. He had his first chemo yesterday."

Gabriella nodded in comprehension, "Yeah, that's why I brought this, actually."

For the first time Sharpay noticed the cooler the other teenager was carrying. "What's that?"

Gabriella smiled much too happily for Sharpay's taste, "Fulton said that Ryan probably wouldn't leave the house today, and that you probably wouldn't either, and since the cook is down with us he suggested that Zeke could put some stuff together for you guys."

Sharpay looked slightly more interested, because she had planned on a simple banana or yogurt for any meals of the day, "You do know that Ryan won't be eating any of this?"

Gabriella looked confused again, "I guess I didn't, really."

"Um-hm," Sharpay continued, "Anything he'd eat would come right back up."

Gabriella seemed to squirm, probably because she hated being given personal information. It made Sharpay want to talk more; Gabriella torturing would make a good sport. Unfortunately for Sharpay's happiness she thought better of it for Ryan's sake. He hated when people got hold of anything personal about him. Instead Sharpay decided that forcing Gabriella to lug the large cooler into their kitchen and unloading it under her supervision could be just as fun.

"Come on," Sharpay gestured stepping back inside, "I'll show you where that goes."

In quiet obedience, Gabriella followed her inside, trying to close the front door with one hand, and then scurrying with her load to keep up. Just as they began to pass the stairs a sudden shout caused Gabriella to drop her load:

"SHARPAY!"

The cry had come from upstairs. Gabriella's heart had stopped in her chest, but now it began again as she realized it was only Ryan. By this point Sharpay was already running up the stairs as fast as her feet could carry her.

Hardly slowing down when she reached the top of the staircase, Sharpay continued, bursting into Ryan's room, where she saw her brother sitting on the floor next to his bed. His back leaned against the wall, and his knees were held tightly against his chest, his face pale and sweat droplets standing out on his white forehead.

Sharpay dropped to her knees next to him, "Ryan, what's wrong?"

Ryan swiped his hand across his face to rid himself of tears and sweat, "I got sick on my bed. I just sort of freaked out, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Sharpay said doing her best to smile, "You just startled me. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Ryan responded much too quickly.

"Liar," Sharpay said with a sad smile.

Ryan tried out giving her the puppy-dog eyes, and Sharpay began to laugh, "Stop it." Sharpay stood up and then held out her hand to her brother, "Come on, you can lie down on the couch. Don't worry, I'll get the bed taken care of."

Ryan took his sister's hand and then used the other one to push up with the bed. When he was finally on his feet, Ryan shut his eyes and waited for the spinning sensation to stop. When he opened them again, Sharpay was watching him and asked, "Are you ready?"

Ryan nodded and the twins were off, Sharpay gently leading him, and Ryan leaning against the walls so that he wouldn't put too much pressure on his sister. They took each step slowly until Ryan had the sudden sensation that someone was watching him. He stopped and peered down the stairs before turning to Sharpay.

"Is that Gabriella?"

"Yes," Sharpay said.

"Why?" Ryan asked, still perplexed.

"She came bearing food. I couldn't turn her down," Sharpay said with the tiniest of smiles.

"I'll accept that," Ryan said with a nod. He turned to face the figure standing uncertainly in their entryway, "Hey Gabriella!"

She smiled back, "Hey, Ryan. How are you feeling?"

Ryan had begun making his way down the stairs again, but he was doing his best to avoid the help from Sharpay that he had been receiving.

"Fine … great, actually," he said chipperly, all the while staring at his feet making sure they hit each step. He knew from experience what happened when he stopped paying attention.

Gabriella had, in Sharpay's opinion, an annoyingly perky smile plastered to her face. "Glad to hear it. Hey, I brought some food, if you're hungry."

Sharpay felt like slamming her head into something … she had just told her, not five minutes ago, that Ryan tended to get sick after treatments. Instead she gripped Ryan harder to make sure he wouldn't fall over if he decided to up-chuck at the mere mention of food. Ryan responded slightly better than she expected.

His stomach began to make its unpleasant journey up into his throat, but even as it did Ryan choked it back and offered a funny little smile, "Um, I think I'll pass. But thanks."

Gabriella just smiled back. _Idiot_, Sharpay thought. The twins reached the bottom of the stairs, and Ryan began to pull away, preferring to struggle on his own rather than appear weak. Sharpay understood immediately what he was doing, and though on a normal day she might have demanded he let her help him, today she let him get away with it. She backed away and said, "I'll get the pain meds from the kitchen. Get your butt to the couch and then don't move."

Ryan's eyes lit up and he looked pleased that his sister was giving him some space. He stumbled as best he could towards the couch, finally reaching it. With a little sigh he flopped down onto it, gesturing Gabriella to come into the living room with him. Still looking unsure of herself, Gabriella tip-toed slowly into the room, but before she could sit down the loud clang of the door-bell shattered the awkward silence.

Sharpay yelled from some unknown portion of the house, "RYAN, DON'T MOVE OR YOU'RE DEAD! MAKE GABRIELLA GET IT!"

Gabriella stared in the direction of the voice, glanced at Ryan for a moment and then quickly walked away, her footsteps echoing through the halls. Ryan remained sitting, but stretched his neck as far as possible to see who was at their house. Still unable to see, he resigned himself to listening.

Ryan could hear the whooshing sound of the door opening and then Gabriella's chipper voice saying, "Kelsi! Hi!"

Ryan could feel his heart beat faster with excitement. Kelsi was at his house!

Now Kelsi's voice traveled down the hallway, "Hey, Gabriella! I didn't know you were here."

Then Gabriella, "Yeah, I just came to drop off some food for the Evans." Ryan felt his stomach lurch at the mention of food, "How about you?"

Kelsi again, "I just wanted to see how Ryan was doing. I figured he wouldn't be up to company, but … I thought I'd just talk to Sharpay."

Ryan considered calling out and telling them that they could come in and that he could hear every word they said, but he decided against it for Kelsi's sake. Although she hadn't said anything embarrassing, she would still be uncomfortable. Gabriella saved him the trouble, "Ryan's up and in the living room, if you wanna come in."

"Oh, sure."

Moments later the door closed and two sets of footsteps traveled toward the living room. Ryan had had plenty of time to get comfortable on the couch and to prepare himself to act casual instead of as incredibly excited as he felt. When he had woken up this morning he had been thinking that he hadn't seen Kelsi for probably three days, and he was slightly embarrassed when he thought about how much he had missed talking to her.

Although Ryan was continuing to convince himself that he just liked hanging around Kelsi because she was a great friend, part of his mind was beginning to realize that maybe he was beginning to see her as more than a friend.

But he knew he would never be able to admit it to Kelsi … if she didn't feel the same way, their friendship would be over. Kelsi was very shy, and if she knew that he liked her more than as a friend she would certainly feel uncomfortable with him. Their easy friendship would be completely ruined.

And then there were the thoughts that maybe he didn't _really_ like her and that it was just because he was so mixed up because of his recent troubles. That was a real possibility. He got clingy whenever he had a problem, and so maybe his feelings were just coming from his need for someone to cling to and Kelsi was such a good friend that it was natural.

No matter what was happening, Ryan was certain that the best choice was to continue to just be a friend and to act friendly but not _overly_ friendly when Kelsi walked into the room. Easy enough, right?

Moments later Kelsi and Gabriella made their appearance to find Ryan sitting on the couch, feet up on the recliner, looking thoroughly relaxed.

Gabriella announced, "Our guest was Kelsi!"

Ryan smiled as if he had no idea who was at the door, not wanting them to guess he had heard their entire conversation, "Hey, Kelsi!"

Kelsi gave him that shy little smile that made his heart glow with happiness when he saw it and said in her sweet, quiet voice, "Hey, Ryan. How are you feeling?"

He gave her one of his best charming smiles hoping to fool her, "Actually I'm feeling great."

Unfortunately his sister had bad timing. Sharpay strutted into the room carrying the pain killers and a glass of water, snorting in derision at her brother's words, "Oh, yeah, in what universe is throwing up and lying around groaning feeling great?" She shoved the pills and water into his hands. "Take those; the doctor said it should help the nausea too."

Ryan tried to give her his best angry look, but the truth was that he was never good at being angry and so his 'angry' look didn't carry much weight. Instead he quickly took the pills and turned back to Kelsi, "She's exaggerating."

His words had little effect on Kelsi's worried look, and Sharpay was still in the room prompting her to snort again and say, "Liar."

Ryan threw another look towards his sister before smiling back towards Kelsi and Gabriella, "Are you guys staying? You can sit down."

The girls looked at each other before Kelsi said, "If we don't bother you we can stay for a little bit. Or at least I can."

Gabriella laughed, "And if you can, I have the time too. You don't mind?"

Ryan smiled, "Of course not!"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Oh, you're not bothering him. He really wants you to stay; he just doesn't want to make you do something you don't want to. It would be easier if he'd just flat out invite you to stay, but I know that's never going to happen."

Ryan was realizing, not for the first time, that sometimes it was hard having a sister who knew you so well hanging around interpreting everything you say. On the other hand, Ryan knew she was holding back. Sharpay could definitely do worse if she wanted to.

Gabriella and Kelsi just smiled a bit at Sharpay's comment, but otherwise ignored it. Kelsi especially felt bad for Ryan, because she knew she did the exact same thing. The girls sat down on another couch, and Sharpay joined Ryan on his.

After a short awkward silence, Ryan decided it was up to him to get conversation rolling. "So, Gabriella, are you enjoying your first summer without moving?"

Gabriella flashed him a happy smile, "Oh, yeah. It's so nice to be here with friends and knowing I'll still be around next school year and be at graduation."

Although even after she said it Gabriella didn't see the irony, but everyone else in the room did. Ryan might not be around for the whole year, and it was unlikely that Ryan would be in the graduation. In the hearts of Sharpay and Kelsi, something broke, and they caught each other's eyes and knew that they were thinking the same thing.

Although it had occurred to Ryan as well, he was doing his best not to think about it. Instead he just smiled, "I'm really happy for you. I've never lived anywhere but here. Is it hard to move?"

Gabriella nodded emphatically, "Yeah, I really hated moving. Knowing that any friends you made would be left behind in a couple of months, getting used to a new house. The worst part was always being the new kid. It's hard when everyone else seems to belong and you don't."

Ryan nodded, "I get the not belonging part, but I've always known everybody. I mean, I remember that Shar and I went to the same preschool as Troy and Chad . They were in our class. I met Kelsi in Kindergarten for the first time, Martha moved here in third grade, and Zeke and Jason went to a different elementary school, but were in our middle school. I can't imagine what its like to have only strangers around you."

Gabriella shrugged, "It hasn't been all that bad. But it is really cool how long you've known everybody."

"It kind of is-" Ryan began, before being cut off by Sharpay.

"Oh, yeah, its great to know everybody, everybody having their own niche, and then some new kid comes and messes everything up."

Gabriella turned bright red and immediately looked down, and Kelsi frowned at Sharpay, while Ryan just gave Sharpay this crushed look. Those two sets of eyes staring at her made Sharpay unhappy, and though she had tried to convince herself that Ryan couldn't make her feel guilty, right now that was untrue. After a moment Sharpay added, "But it was time for a change. It would have been boring if we won _all_ the time. No competition."

Ryan gave a small smile at Sharpay's attempt to make Gabriella feel better. His sister did have a heart, and she wasn't necessarily trying to be mean, it just came so naturally to her.

Kelsi smiled, "And I thought you were great in Twinkle Towne, Gabriella. And Sharpay's right, East High was in need of some change."

Gabriella looked up, "Are you sure? I really hate to feel like I imposed myself and changed things for the worse."

Sharpay sighed and continued to fight down her pride, saying, "You didn't impose yourself." In her mind, her fingers were crossed behind her back.

"Oh, good," Gabriella said, feeling back to her normal, chipper self. "Hey, Ry-"

She stopped when she looked over and saw Ryan sprawled over the couch, fast asleep. "Oh," she said, a bit confused.

Sharpay smiled tenderly at the sight of her sleeping brother, "Looks like the happy pills made him sleepy. Guess its for the best. Maybe he'll be able to sleep the day away." She gestured for Gabriella and Kelsi to leave the room with her.

Once out of range where they might wake him up, Gabriella said, "But he looked fine when we were talking. He didn't seem sick at all."

"Let me explain something to you," Sharpay said, looking her straight in the eyes. "Ryan is one of the strongest people you will ever meet. He never complains, but when you really get to know him, you'll see it in his eyes. He doesn't have to say a thing, but today he was in a lot of pain, and very sick; yet you didn't even know. If he says anything about what he's feeling, if he lets out a whimper, you'll know that he is in such pain that you couldn't even imagine." Gabriella's eyes were wide by this point. "Keep that in mind. Never believe him when he says he's okay, because he's not, and he won't be, and he may never be again."

With that, Sharpay quickly turned around and left Gabriella and Kelsi in the entryway. Gabriella turned to Kelsi for some confirmation. Kelsi just looked back, sadness in her eyes, before turning and walking out the front door, gesturing for Gabriella to come with her.

Once they were outside, Kelsi spoke softly, and much more kindly than Sharpay had, "What Sharpay said … well, its true. He's in pain, but its going to get much worse, and we'll never hear a peep about it from Ryan. That's just his way. He doesn't like people treating him differently, and he hates it when people feel like they have to feel sad for them. He likes it when people are happy, and he hates it when people are sad for his sake."

Gabriella nodded, "I feel bad that I was so happy today when he was miserable."

Kelsi smiled and put a hand on Gabriella's arm, "Ryan would feel like your attitude was a job well done … he wants us to be happy."

As they started back toward the clubhouse, Gabriella was struck again by Ryan … he was perfect, and he didn't know it. He just had to get better.

Several hours later Ryan woke up, groggily realizing that his guests were gone, and Sharpay was sitting on the other couch reading a book, obviously waiting for him to wake up. To show her he was he let out a groggy groan, and immediately Sharpay's book was down and Sharpay was sitting next to him.

"Good morning, sunshine."

Ryan groaned again, but looked at her, wondering what she was going to talk about.

"Hey, Ry?" A groan for her to continue. "You like Kelsi, don't you?"

Ryan was immediately awake, "Wha-?"

"I just wanted to let you know … she likes you too."

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**Again, any ambiguity you may be experiencing or any errors you found would be great to know of. I'll try to fix anything you bring to my attention. Please review and help us out if you're enjoying this...and if not, please let us know why and we shall make an attempt to appease you. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**DPSG1/N: Hello, all. Thanks to the terrific responses we've had for this lovely little story, my friend has been motivate enough to write up through chapter 8, so you at least have that much guaranteed for you. Please continue to let us know that you're reading. Enjoy Ryan's first day back at school with his disease.**

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Ryan rolled onto his side and peered at the red blinking numbers on his clock shining to the dark room that the time was 3:23 AM. Letting out a small groan, Ryan rolled onto his back and concentrated on the ceiling instead of the pain in his legs and arms. He needed to get some more sleep because in less than three short hours, he would have to drag himself out of bed and make an appearance at East High for the first day of school. His mind was exhausted and screaming for the rest his body desperately needed, but he was in too much pain.

The last weeks of summer had been a trial with Ryan living two separate lives. His first life was the one that he shared with the Wildcats and the one that seemed the most forced to him. With the Wildcats he played games, hung out, and talked, acting just like the rest of them. He never showed them how much the leukemia and the chemo were affecting him.

His other life was only shared with Sharpay or, once in a great while, with Kelsi, but even when he shared with them, he still down-played his feelings. He never showed the despair he felt or revealed how much pain he was really in. He was scared and sick, but the last thing he wanted was to drag his sister and friends down into the pit of despair he found himself trapped in.

Instead of the occasional aches at night, his entire body hurt all of the time. Every meal had become a struggle, trying to keep the food down and the weight on. When he played basketball with Troy , Chad , Zeke, Jason, and the maintenance guy, Vince, he found himself constantly short of breath. When he sat down for just a few minutes it became difficult to stand up again because he would ache and become extremely dizzy.

Even the smallest tasks tired him, whether they were physical or mental, and the truth was that the thought of starting school worried him. His façade would be revealed when slowed up the group in P.E., fell asleep in class, or bolted from the cafeteria to throw up in the bathroom.

On top of all of those problems, Ryan was noticing that, day by day, his blond hair became thinner as his hair dropped out. He had been given the option to shave his head to avoid getting hair everywhere, but Ryan wanted to keep that one normal part of him intact for as long as possible. So instead he watched as it clogged the shower drain, covered every chair he sat on, and ended up layering his pillow every night. He had just begun to forego swimming after the time he had jumped into the pool and, while underwater, had seen the hairs swirling around him, gently swaying back and forth, and being carried away by the current he made.

The one upside was that everyone expected him to always wear hats, and so it wouldn't seem out of place to cover up his increasing baldness. But he knew if ever his hat was gone and people got a glimpse of his bald head, the jocks and other school jerks would inevitably taunt him for weeks, or months … or the rest of his life.

That thought caused him to shiver. Though he had plenty of time to think about it, Ryan still hadn't come to terms with the very real possibility that he could die within perhaps months. To calm himself and try to return to sleep, Ryan began to concentrate on taking deep, slow breaths. There was no other sound in his room, and even if there had been, Ryan was concentrating too hard to notice. In … out. In … out.

Suddenly a noise broke through the sounds of his steady breathing. It was faint, but he was still able to hear it through the closed door of his room. His heart thumped quickly as he tried to figure out what it was. Garnering up some courage, Ryan crept to his door and quietly opened it, peering into the dark hallway.

As soon as the door opened, the noise became definable: it was Sharpay. Ryan listened, trying to ascertain what his sister was saying. It was now obvious that she was talking in her sleep, but it was still impossible to understand what she was saying.

Although Sharpay had drilled it into Ryan's head that there was never a time he was allowed to enter her room without expressed permission, Ryan quickly decided there was an exception to every rule, and he had discovered one for Sharpay's.

Taking only a couple of steps, Ryan reached her door and opened it to Sharpay's voice tearfully murmuring, "No, don't go. Don't leave me. You can't leave me, no. Ryan, no. NO!"

Ryan's heart completely stopped at her words: she was dreaming about him! He was making his sister cry, and nobody was allowed to make her cry, himself included. He was by her side, sitting on her bed next to her in a moment. He looked down at her, the tears streaming down her rosy red cheeks. Her bright pink comforter was pulled up tightly to her face and clutched into her hands. Ryan's heart broke at her pain.

Leaning over, Ryan grasped her shoulder and shook it, whispering softly, "Shar…. Sharpay… wake up."

Sharpay's brown eyes snapped open and stared up at him in disbelief. The tension began to release itself from her body but the tears continued to flow as she sat up never taking her eyes off of her brother. She was so vulnerable, and a side of her rarely seen was looking at Ryan so that he barely recognized her as his sister.

The girl in front of him wasn't confident and proud, but she was terrified and hurting, and in one swift motion Ryan collected her in his arms and hugged her. She let out a sob against his shoulder and Ryan felt his own eyes fill, but he kept the tears out of his voice as he began to rock her slightly and rub her back in soothing circles, just like Kelsi had when he had been sick.

He whispered into her ear, "It's alright, Shar. I'm right here. Everything's okay, I'm not leaving."

After a while, Sharpay stopped crying, and Ryan carefully helped her back into her covers, not saying anything for fear of his sister suddenly becoming embarrassed and shutting him out. Ryan simply looked down at her and whispered, as he often did, "I love you, Shar."

He stood up and began to walk away, knowing that Sharpay wouldn't respond. But his sister's soft voice stopped him in his tracks, "I love you, too." Still not wanting to jeopardize the moment, Ryan didn't say anything else, nor did he turn around. Instead he paused for a moment to allow a gentle smile to spread on his face, before he continued walking out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Six o'clock came much too fast for two very tired twins, but they had managed to get ready for school and into Sharpay's pink convertible on time. The ride relaxed their nerves and listening to the Broadway soundtrack of "Fiddler on the Roof" put them both into a good mood. As depressing as the musical ended, the songs were all rather cheerful, and Ryan felt bold enough to sing along with Motel in "Miracle of Miracles," a personal favorite of his.

Sharpay smiled, and although she knew all the words, allowed him to sing to his heart's delight by himself. She was astounded anew by how wonderful and full her brother's voice was. There had been a reason she had given him the melody line when they sang "What I've Been Looking For," while she had taken the harmony.

When they finally pulled into East High, Ryan and Sharpay were bordering on contentment. Sharpay scrambled out of the car and, for the first time in four years, grabbed her own bag from the back instead of making Ryan carry it. It was such a small action, but Ryan appreciated it, especially when he realized carrying his own bag could prove to be a struggle. Just getting out of the car had made him feel weak and sick all over again, but he quickly straightened up, making sure no one had seen his moment of weakness, and then he managed to pick up his bag and heave it over his shoulder.

Within moments, his shoulder began to ache slightly, and soon after that, it felt like his shoulder was throbbing. Ryan took it off and switched shoulders. But just when he made it through East High's doors, it began to hurt again. Instead of switching the strap back, Ryan decided to live with it, and, still in pain, hurried after Sharpay to reach their new lockers.

Ryan nearly ran into Sharpay when she suddenly stopped. "Well, here we are," she said walking over to hers and then gesturing to the locker next to hers, "That's yours." Ryan nodded and pulled the piece of paper with his locker combination out of his pocket.

He loved the freshness of getting a new locker. He was able to organize it any way he wanted, and today was even better because he could get some of the books out of his bag to ease the weight on his shoulder. Looking over at his sister during a break in his careful organizing, he watched as she very carefully put a pink cover over the front of her locker, before placing a mirror fringed with some pink fuzz on the inside door. After that she shoved the rest of her school supplies in before placing all of her back-up make-up on the remaining shelf. Satisfied with her work, Sharpay slammed her locker door before turning to Ryan.

"Are you done yet?" Ryan merely nodded, and Sharpay gave a quick nod, "Then let's go."

"Where?"

"We're here early, so to the auditorium to practice," Sharpay said, even as she began to walk, "Where else?"

Ryan quickly closed his locker and took a couple of quicker steps to catch up with his sister. He didn't want Sharpay to know, but secretly he was disappointed that they weren't going to hang out with their friends before class. He hadn't even seen them the last two weeks of summer because that was when their summer jobs had ended. He longed to just talk to them, compare classes, and see what it was like to actually have a group of friends to hang out with.

Unfortunately, Sharpay obviously didn't feel the same way, and though Ryan had opened up and grown over the summer, the truth was that Ryan preferred being a follower rather than a leader, and Sharpay was the only one to follow at the moment.

"So, what are we practicing?" Ryan asked, knowing they had never actually come to a conclusion about which audition piece they would do.

"We're doing 'A Whole New World,'" Sharpay said matter-of-factly as they continued to saunter through the very center of the gathered students.

"From _Aladdin_?" Ryan asked, eyes wide.

"That's the one." Sharpay finally reached the auditorium doors, but instead of going in, turned to face him as if challenging him to question her choice.

Ryan stopped too and looked at her, opting to let her say something first.

"Is there a problem, Ry?" Sharpay asked, ready to defend her choice at all costs.

"It's just-"

"Spit it out!"

"It's a Disney movie!"

"And …?"

"It's a kid's movie. They're just not really … real world," Ryan finally said, trying to figure out exactly why he had a problem with it.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm in a Disney movie, yet this is the real world," Sharpay countered.

Ryan's eyebrows went up in confusion.

"Think about it. Everybody suddenly became friends last year for no good reason. That never happens except in Disney movies … and yet it did."

Ryan continued trying to discern Sharpay's argument, "So you're saying that if that happened, then why couldn't there be the made up land of Agrabah with flying carpets and magic genies?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "You're hopeless."

Suddenly, someone punched Ryan's shoulder and said cheerfully, "Hey, man!"

Ryan turned around to stare into the smiling face of Chad Danforth. "Hey!" he responded deciding not to mention how much his shoulder had hurt from his friendly punch. He truly was happy to see another friendly face and perhaps an escape from the crazy argument with his sister.

Chad was smiling like crazy, "So I checked homeroom assignments, and we're all in the same one. Unfortunately it's with Darbus … again."

Ryan grinned, "That's great! And I don't mind Ms. Darbus … she's really a very brilliant director with the mind of an artist."

"I'll have to take your word on that one," Chad said. "So you guys want to head over there? We're all just hanging out in the room. Darbus isn't even here yet."

Sharpay was about to speak, and Ryan was certain she was going to say no, so he tried to beat her to it, "Sure! We were hoping we could find some of you guys to hang out with."

"Alright, then. Let's go," Chad smiled as he led the way, a basketball in hand and applying the dodging skills he had learned in basketball to fight through the crowded hallways.

Ryan began to follow but just as he took his first step he felt Sharpay slap him on the back in anger. Ryan turned toward her, but Sharpay was already speeding up to catch Chad in the crowd. With a sigh and a little roll of his eyes, Ryan followed after his sister, whom he assumed was still following Chad .

As the three seniors entered homeroom, Chad called out, "Look who I found!"

All of their friends who had been deep in conversation turned around and called out friendly greetings. Troy had an arm around Gabriella with Zeke sitting on a desk in front of them. Martha, Kelsi, and Taylor were standing near the window in a three pointed circle, and Jason was talking with some of the basketball guys whose names constantly slipped Ryan's mind.

Ryan hated the sudden attention, responding to their greetings with a little wave, while Sharpay had flown into the room, heading toward Troy and Zeke, squealing and exclaiming how happy she was to see them. Ryan caught Chad 's eye and they both rolled their eyes.

Chad grinned, "Is she always like that?"

"Around boys, yes," Ryan responded with the smallest shrug and a half smile, but he was remembering just last night when his sister had seemed so different. He knew that the way the entire world saw Sharpay was far from the truth, and the way Sharpay thought of herself was probably just as incorrect. She was apparently a good enough actress to fool even herself, but she could never fool Ryan.

After only a few minutes of talking, Ms. Darbus entered and, much to Ryan's dismay, zeroed in on him. "Ryan!" she cried out, walking toward him. At those words Chad quickly backed away and headed toward where the girls were talking, deciding it was necessary to check on his girlfriend.

Ryan stood where he was, knowing he was about to be very uncomfortable. Had he really just defended Ms. Darbus to Chad this morning? It hardly seemed possible at the moment.

"Ryan, how are you, you poor boy?" Ms. Darbus asked, standing much too close for comfort.

"Fine, thanks," Ryan said, knowing a more truthful response would start a conversation that he never wanted to have.

"Oh, so brave," she murmured sadly. Ryan knew his face was turning red, because he could feel his cheeks burning, more with humiliation than modesty. Ryan hoped that Sharpay would see his predicament and save him, but he could tell with one glance that she was too busy trying to flirt with both Zeke and Troy .

Ms. Darbus continued, "So, will you be well enough to be in the winter musicale? If you don't think you can take a big part, we can always find some smaller role for you."

Ryan would have given anything to escape from that conversation, but he knew the bell wouldn't go off for another couple of minutes. There was nothing he could do but be polite and incredibly uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm not really-"

"Hey, Ryan, could you show us how you do a jazz square? We were all arguing about how it's done, but we knew that you knew, so … oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Darbus, am I interrupting?"

Ryan felt the relief flooding through his body as Kelsi looked up at Ms. Darbus as though she felt foolish for interrupting their conversation. Kelsi really wasn't such a bad actress.

"Oh, no Miss Nielsen, not at all. We can talk later, Ryan." Ms. Darbus said before walking toward her desk.

Ryan turned to Kelsi, "I don't know how to thank you, Kelsi, I was so-"

Kelsi smiled, "I could tell by your face that you were uncomfortable. You're as red as a fire truck."

If it was possible, Ryan's face became hotter. "Yeah, well, thanks."

"Don't mention it. I was happy to help," suddenly Kelsi smiled a bit more, but now it was more of a smirk. "You'd better do those jazz squares, or Ms. Darbus will suspect something."

Ryan groaned, "I appreciate the help, but you couldn't have thought of something else?"

Kelsi grinned, "Nope. Now dance, Jazz-Square-Boy."

Face still burning, Ryan did a quick jazz square before the bell rang, cutting his dance short. Ryan shot Kelsi a triumphant glance as if to say, "Saved by the bell."

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**Please make us aware of any mistakes you found. Constructive criticism would be very nice to receive, as well, or just a simple acknowledgement of your continued following of this story. Thank you so much. See you at the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**DPSG1/N: Sorry for the extensive absence on my part, everyone. Been busy, as usual. But, on the bright side, I do have this lovely chapter to post. This is where things start to turn. It's becoming slightly darker, just to warn you. **

**And the serious symptoms begin...**

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After two weeks of struggling to keep his pain and exhaustion hidden from his friends, Ryan was nearly ready to quit. Unfortunately, it was early in the school year. There were going to be many days ahead of repeating the same struggles.

On the upside, Ryan had a note from Dr. Parks that excluded him from participating in most of P.E. after today. There was too much of a chance that he would get hurt and bleed to death, a side-effect of the chemo. Since getting smashed by jocks with dodge-balls had never been especially entertaining in Ryan's opinion, his exclusion from the class was a blessing. It also meant that he wouldn't get the accustomed 'C' in that class.

Ryan still went into the locker room to change into his gym clothes. He had Chad, Troy, Jason, and Zeke in his P.E. class, as well as Taylor, Kelsi, and Gabriella. Martha and Sharpay had somehow been put into another class, to Ryan's dismay. He was always a bit uncomfortable without his twin by his side.

Searching the locker room for a friendly face, Ryan was disconcerted to realize his friends were gone and what seemed to be the entire football team was standing around changing. Hoping not to attract their notice, Ryan went to a row of lockers that were farther away from the main group before quickly shedding his neatly pressed clothes for a pair of baggy gym shorts, a t-shirt, and a ratty red baseball cap.

Grabbing his doctor's note from his bag, Ryan tried to make a quick exit, but felt a hand on his shoulder … it was Stan, East High's quarterback. Ryan and Stan had had several run-ins in the past, but Stan avoided picking on Ryan when Sharpay was around. In fact, all of the jocks avoided teasing Ryan whenever his sister was near.

Ryan had been a target for Stan since the first day of eighth grade when Ryan had accidentally spilled his milk on the much bigger guy. When Stan had given Ryan a black eye, a few stray tears had streamed down eighth grade Ryan's face, leading to a nickname that had persisted through four years.

Looking back at Stan in consternation, Ryan wondered if he would be able to escape from the bigger boy's clutches and into the realm of the gym where Coach Bolton taught P.E. and his Wildcat friends would be waiting to defend him. Within moments that option was lost, as other members of the football team circled to Ryan's other side to block his potential escape.

Stan grinned, "Well, Cryan, good to see you again after last week's challenges. We were afraid you wouldn't come back."

Ryan just gritted his teeth, but said nothing. Stan continued, "And what's with the hats, dramette? Seems to me you don't need it." In one swift movement the baseball cap was knocked to the floor and, with it, a cascade of loose hair.

Ryan stood, frozen, hoping that he had enough hair left to pass comment. Stan studied him for a moment, "It seems to me that you've lost some hair. Did we scare you that much?"

Again Ryan didn't answer. He hoped that, eventually, they would leave him alone if he just didn't say anything. Suddenly the locker-room doors opened revealing Coach Bolton standing with a clip-board in his hand.

"Come on, guys, hustle out here." Coach Bolton looked them all over, "I can see you're all changed. Let's go, people." He moved his hand in a hurrying motion, and the boys began to file out. Stan shoved past Ryan, "I think I'll keep the hat, Cryan."

Face pale, Ryan walked out into the gym behind the other guys before seeing his friends standing together. Feeling a bit of relief, Ryan jogged over to them.

Suddenly Ryan could feel the eyes of all his friends on him. Taylor, Kelsi, and Gabriella looked shocked but also sad, while the four guys looked a little freaked out. He turned to stare back, when Chad stuttered out, "Dude, your hair!"

Ryan bit his lip and stared at the ground in shame before shrugging his shoulders saying simply, "I lost my hat."

Coach Bolton blew his whistle, "Alright. I thought we would do some stretches before playing a game of dodge-ball. I want you all to line up. Troy, Stan, you're our team captains."

Ryan reached down for his note when he realized it was gone. He didn't know where it was, but he quickly scanned around the gym trying to locate it. Taylor leaned over and whispered, "Did you lose something?"

Ryan could feel his breath catching in his throat, "Um, yeah. I've gotta find it. It's a note."

Taylor nodded and looked around them, too. Ryan was panicking as he saw the people around him diminishing as they were picked by Troy and Stan. That's when he heard Troy say, "Ryan."

Swallowing, Ryan turned around to Coach Bolton. "Um, I can't play."

Loud guffaws came from Stan and his team, and the eyes of the rest of the room were on him. Coach Bolton looked at him, confused, but obviously willing to listen.

"I … um… I have a note."

"Can I see it?" Coach Bolton asked calmly.

"I seem to have …." Ryan paused, "I lost it."

Stan was by now having a heyday at Ryan's expense, "Cryan is too afraid to play dodge-ball. It's alright, squirt, we won't hurt you too bad. Though making up an excuse to hide is just lame."

Ryan was pale and shaky from his trying morning and the attention of his classmates, and he was humiliated beyond belief. Taylor stood next to him and glared back at the kids who made fun of him, and Chad rushed at Stan shouting, "Shut up! You know nothing, you … you!" Troy grabbed Chad's arm to stop his attack, but he looked every bit as angry. Jason and Zeke looked intimidating as they also faced Stan. Kelsi and Gabriella looked at each other and then watched Ryan to see what he would do next.

Coach Bolton tried to restore order by grabbing Chad to help Troy, while simultaneously blowing his whistle. The room became quiet again.

Ryan was desperate, "Please, can I just check the locker room?"

Coach Bolton nodded, "Sure, son, just hurry. Troy, in the meantime, pick someone else."

Ryan began to sprint to the locker room, a bad idea anyway when he became short of breath while just walking, when he was suddenly flying through the air and landing with a sickening thump on the ground. Ryan rolled over to look up at Stan who was holding a hand out, "I'm sorry, buddy. You should watch where you're going."

Chad roared out in anger and again tried to rush at Stan, but this time Troy was aided by both Jason and Zeke in holding their friend back. Coach Bolton's face was red with anger as he marched over to Stan.

"This is early in the school year," he began, doing his best to hold back his frustration, "so I don't want to send anyone to detention, but if I have to, I will. This is a warning and there won't be another. Either shape up or I'm shipping you to Darbus. Now take three laps around the gym. GO!"

Stan rolled his eyes and began to run while Kelsi had run over to help Ryan who still hadn't gotten back up. Ryan hadn't noticed the exchange between Coach Bolton and Stan … he was too busy staring at his arm.

Kelsi knelt down and tried to catch Ryan's eye, "Ryan, are you okay?"

He didn't answer her, but continued to focus on his arm.

"Ryan?" she asked again, a little louder. After another moment of silence she leaned over to see what he was staring at. Even as she looked, a large area of Ryan's arm was turning a dark bluish-black color, and every second it was turning darker. She was bewildered and looked up into his eyes.

Ryan just looked back, his eyes holding a look of panic that was held back by a strange calm. He just said, "I think I have a problem."

Kelsi's heart was thumping fast and she looked around frantically before calling out, "Help! We need help!"

The Wildcats were there in a moment, all of them looking concerned, with Coach Bolton beating them to their friend and kneeling down next to Kelsi. "Everyone, give us some space!" he ordered before facing Ryan.

"What's the matter?"

Ryan merely looked back at him, blinking slowly and his eyes absent of comprehension. He was paler than he had been earlier, and several sweat droplets traveled down his face. A large bruise was beginning to appear on his cheek, and when Kelsi took one of his hands in hers, it felt cold and clammy.

Coach Bolton looked a bit bewildered and turned to the Wildcats. "What's wrong with him?"

Troy answered, "He's the kid with leukemia … the one I told you about."

Coach Bolton nodded and, turning to Jason and Zeke, said, "Guys, go get the nurse. We might need an ambulance. Be prepared to call for one."

He bent over to Ryan, "His name's Ryan, right?"

Kelsi murmured, "Yes."

"Alright," Coach Bolton, "Hey, Ryan, buddy, can you hear me? Listen, I just need to check under your shirt for a second, okay? It's going to be okay."

Coach Bolton lifted his shirt just enough to see what he needed to know. Ryan's stomach and chest were covered in similar bruises. He dropped the shirt back down. "Alright, people, I need you to back up and give us some space, and Troy, I need you to call an ambulance." He turned to Chad, " Chad , I need you to get to the nurse, tell her he's going into shock. She'll need to be prepared."

The two boys raced off and Coach Bolton turned back to Ryan. "Hey, Ryan, look at me." Ryan was staring off into the distance, his pupils large and nearly drowning the blue of his eyes.

Coach Bolton turned to Gabriella, "You've had first aid training, right?" He didn't even wait for a response before continuing, "I need you to just sit here and watch him." Then, to Kelsi and Taylor, "Girls, get him some blankets, we need to keep him warm. I have to get the students out of here so the paramedics can get through."

Gabriella sat there staring at Ryan, frightened beyond belief and unsure of what to do, but she listened to Coach Bolton and just sat there watching him. Kelsi and Taylor returned with blankets just as the nurse rushed through the door with Jason. The nurse knelt beside Ryan and took his pulse. She squeezed her eyes shut and said, "An ambulance is on the way. All we can do is wait."

A sudden cry of, "RYAN!" came from the gym's double-doors as Sharpay rushed into the room with Zeke following. The gym was nearly empty now, adding more echo to the clicking of Sharpay's high-heels as she rushed to her brother. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she knelt down and grabbed his hand.

"Ryan? Ry? Can you hear me?" a little choked sob was released, "Don't leave me! You promised! You hear me? You can't break …" she sobbed again, "your promise."

The kids were just now realizing what Coach Bolton, the nurse, and Sharpay knew: that Ryan could die. Troy grabbed Gabriella and brought her over to talk to the very scared Wildcats. "Gabs, what's happening?"

Gabriella could feel tears starting in her eyes, too. "He's hemorrhaging," she looked at Chad trying to explain, "which means he has internal bleeding, and he went into shock. I think hypovolaemic shock, is what it's called."

Taylor was also looking a bit pale as she realized the impact of Gabriella's words, but the other Wildcats were still confused. Gabriella let out a little wail, "It means that he could die. If he loses too much blood, he could go into cardiac arrest, or if blood doesn't reach his brain he could go brain-dead."

Everyone stared at her and then at Ryan who was taking short, difficult breaths. He looked so pale and weak, his body shaking under the blankets and Sharpay grasping his hand and sobbing.

Suddenly all of the anxious people could hear the sirens of the ambulance as it pulled up to the school. Coach Bolton let them in, and, in a blur of movement and confusion, a group of paramedics began to work on Ryan. An oxygen mask was put onto his face, and a thick blanket was wrapped around him as they took his vitals.

Sharpay struggled to stay near her brother, but one of the paramedics had put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Give us room to work. There's nothing else you can do."

Doing her best to act furious, when in truth her heart was breaking, Sharpay stormed back a couple of yards. Although Zeke was usually somewhat unsure of himself around Sharpay, he knew she needed a shoulder to cry on. Walking over to her, Zeke reached out and pulled Sharpay into a friendly hug. At the feeling of Zeke's comforting arms around her, Sharpay could feel her anger melt into the overwhelming fear and helplessness she felt.

Zeke just stood there, strong and comforting, letting Sharpay lean on him, head on his shoulder and tears streaming down and wetting his shirt.

Gabriella was busy being held by Troy, also letting her emotions wreak havoc on his clothing, but Kelsi stood by herself, arms crossed in what looked like a little self-hug. Jason tried to give her a hug, but she just backed away. Suddenly another person gave her a hug. Kelsi turned around to see Taylor, who looked at her with the light of understanding.

Taylor looked her in the eye, "I know you like him."

Kelsi bit her lip and a sob she had been trying to hold back was released from her trembling body. Taylor held her friend as she cried saying softly, "Everything will be okay."

Suddenly a loud cry from one of the paramedics reached the scared students, "He's gone into cardiac arrest! I need the defib., now!"

Everyone held in terrified breaths. This could be it; Ryan could die.

After the first zap was heard, the paramedic said, "Again!"

Sharpay shoved away from Zeke, screaming, "RYAN! NO!" Zeke grabbed her before she could make a rush toward her brother, holding her tight as she struggled in desperation.

The machine again made the whirring noise and the zap as it touched Ryan. Moments passed that seemed to pass forever, but finally the head paramedic said, "Alright, he's back. Now let's get him to the ambulance."

Sharpay choked back several more sobs and looked up at Zeke, "I'm going with him."

Zeke nodded, his face full of understanding. "Just call us when you know how he's doing. Lunch-time would probably work best." Sharpay gave him a smile he had never seen from her in all the time he had watched her every move: it was a true smile, one that was full of thankfulness and true caring. But before he could marvel at it too long, Sharpay took off, following the paramedics to the ambulance.

The gym fell silent as the sirens began to move away. Gabriella looked up at Troy , eyes full of pain, "He could still die."

Troy just pulled her back into a hug and buried his chin into her hair. Kelsi slowly sat down on the floor, bringing her knees up to her chin and closing her eyes. Ryan hadn't _almost_ died. He _had_ died, right in front of her. But he was alive again, for now. She had been more terrified than she knew. Now as she sat on the floor, her whole body was shaking and she could feel droplets of sweat trickle down her face and mingle with tears.

Taylor sat down cross-legged next to her. "Everything's going to be okay, Kels." Kelsi just nodded, though her heart wasn't into it.

Coach Bolton walked over to the kids, looking slightly pale and shaky as well. "I bet you guys won't be able to concentrate on classes too much for the rest of the day, so I'm giving you all permission to go home early. If you need a ride home I can take you, or I'll open the house to all of you. You can just hang out with Troy there until your parents can get you or you want to leave."

Everyone was thankful for the offer, but too emotionally drained to do much more than nod in comprehension and slowly follow Coach Bolton out to their cars.

Sharpay had been sitting in the waiting room for two hours since they had arrived at UNM Children's Hospital, when she had watched her brother get wheeled away. She was still shaken from watching Ryan in cardiac arrest, but the long time he was in surgery wasn't making her feel all that much better. She had made her panicked call to her parents minutes after entering the waiting room, and they had both sounded concerned and promised that they would come home as soon as possible.

_Yeah, right._

Sharpay really wished that there was someone to come and wait with her, but Annie, their nurse, was out of town helping her bed-ridden sister take care of her two-year-old triplets.

Had her and Ryan's lives really reached the point that there was no adult to take care of them and to rush to the hospital when one of them was perhaps dying? It was a painful thought, and one that never occurred to her when everyone was healthy. But now it stung. She felt the longing in her heart like a child who just wanted to be held by her mom, but she didn't actually want to be held by her mom. Her mom had never held her or Ryan when they were little and didn't give any more than side-hugs or do the silly finger thing with Ryan.

It had been two hours and she should probably call Zeke … but she had nothing to say yet.

Finally a doctor pushed out of the double doors and called out, "The family of Ryan Evans?"

Sharpay stood up and walked over to where the doctor stood. "I'm here," she said, hoping to avoid the comment that she was the only one there and that no guardian was to be found. Then, she realized that she and Ryan had just turned eighteen and technically didn't need a guardian.

"I'm Dr. Collins, who worked on your … brother?" Sharpay nodded that he had guessed the correct relation. "Well, we were able to stabilize him and find the points where he was hemorrhaging and seal those areas. He's lost quite a bit of blood, so we have begun giving him a blood transfusion. We understood that he has ALL, but any procedures done today shouldn't affect his progress in that area: it will, however, make him much weaker for several days and we'd like to keep him here for probably a week to make sure he recovers and to keep him on oxygen until we're confident he can breath again on his own."

Sharpay nodded, "But he'll be fine, right?"

The doctor nodded slowly and not as confidently as Sharpay would have liked, "It looks like he'll make a full recovery, but we will still want to run tests to check for any infections and for possible brain damage."

Sharpay felt her heart stop, "He could have brain damage?"

"It's a possibility, but we won't know until we can get a CAT scan once he's more stable."

Sharpay bit her lip, calming herself again, "Can I see him?"

"He's in recovery right now, but as soon as you're allowed, I'll get you myself."

Sharpay looked at the doctor for a moment and then watched as he disappeared behind the doors again. Now she could call Zeke.

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**Bit of a cliffhanger, but the next chapter is on its way, so fear not. Please, if you're reading this, it would be wonderful if you took the time to review. My friend is putting a ton of research and experience into this story, and we would love to hear back from our readers. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys are awesome. Thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DPSG1/N: We're SO sorry for the wait, everyone. As I'm sure you can imagine, life's been busy. Chapter nine isn't yet written, but I decided to stop holding chapter eight hostage and release it to the readers who have been anxiously waiting for this. Hopefully it won't disappoint. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8:**

Zeke sat with the Wildcats in Troy 's house waiting for news on Ryan. A movie was playing, and though everyone was staring at the screen, no one was really watching it. The afternoon had been quiet so far with no one wanting to talk much. If someone didn't know better, it would have seemed that Ryan had already died.

When they had first reached Troy 's house, Mrs. Bolton was out shopping. Coach Bolton was standing in the kitchen when she arrived home, and, although he tried his best, he was unable to stop his wife from looking around and asking, "Who died?" sending a shock wave through everyone in the room.

Since that comment, the room had remained nearly silent, other than the sound of Christian Bale crooning, "Santa Fe" on the Bolton's TV.

Zeke suddenly jumped several feet off the couch as he began to grab at his vibrating pocket. He pulled out his cell-phone and with the eyes of the entire room on him and answered it.

"Hello?"

Sharpay's voice flooded through, more uncertain than Zeke had ever heard her, "Zeke?"

"Yeah, it's me," he looked toward Troy as Troy mouthed, "Who is it?" Zeke mouthed back, "Sharpay."

"Yeah, well, Ryan's out of surgery," Sharpay said quickly.

"Oh, good," Zeke paused. "That is good?"

On the other end of the phone Sharpay fidgeted with the piece of paper with Zeke's number on it as she stood by the hospital's pay phone. The strong smell of the hospital was making her sick. "Yeah, in this case, it's good."

Zeke felt a smile appear on his face, "Well, great!"

Sharpay simply responded, "Sure."

Zeke could feel his face fall slightly, "Um, is there something else?" Everyone in the room clung to Zeke's words.

Sharpay let out a little sigh, "He's all hooked up to machines and stuff, and I can't see him yet. He's still in recovery."

Zeke couldn't help feeling confused, "But that's normal, right? I mean, he'll get better, right?"

Sharpay tried to decide whether she should say anything, then finally said, "Zeke … he may have brain-damage."

"What?" Zeke cried, as the entire room became quiet enough for a pin to drop and be heard upstairs, while each heart sped up in fear.

"We don't know yet. They want to do a CAT scan when he's recovered more."

"Well … I'm sure he'll be fine. I mean, it really couldn't be _that_ bad, right?" Zeke asked, trying to convince himself and Sharpay at the same time.

"I really don't know. Listen, I've gotta go. I can see Ryan now."

"Okay. See ya," Zeke said as he closed the phone and then sank back into his chair. All eyes remained on him.

Chad finally couldn't wait anymore, "So what's up? Is Ryan okay?"

Zeke searched his mind trying to remember the specifics of what Sharpay had told him. "He was in surgery, but I guess that went well. Sharpay didn't say much about that," he paused. "He's apparently hooked up to lots of stuff. Um … I guess he might be okay."

Taylor spoke up, "There's something else, isn't there?"

Zeke looked around, "A little something, but it's not for sure or anything. They're going to do a CAT scan to check for brain damage when he's recovered more."

Troy's brow furrowed, "But how would he have brain damage? It's not like he hit his head on anything."

Gabriella shook her head, "If the brain is without oxygen, it can result in brain damage. And Ryan went into cardiac arrest, so blood wasn't reaching his brain."

Everyone became very quiet. Kelsi suddenly spoke up, saying what everyone needed to hear, "But he'll be fine."

**-HSM--HSM** **--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--**

Back at the hospital Sharpay sat, knees pulled up to her chest, on a chair next to Ryan's bed. She watched him, hoping he would wake up soon while she avoided looking at the beeping monitors or the breathing mask that covered half of his face, and especially the bag of blood that was hooked up to his arm. In case he woke up, Sharpay was prepared with paper for him to write on and a lecture on scaring her.

Her thoughts had slowed down since she had come into this room. Sharpay was now considering other important things, like when she got back to school how she was going to kill Stan. She was avoiding any thoughts of how close she had come to losing her brother, and how he could still be taken away from her. Those thoughts were much too dangerous, and she had shed too many tears in the waiting room. Now she had to be strong for Ryan.

Sharpay focused on watching Ryan's closed eyes and willing them to open. Losing focus for a moment, she looked down at her hands, and when she looked back up, two blue gems were staring back at her. They were slightly unfocused and more than a little confused but Sharpay couldn't have cared less.

Keeping her voice down, she said softly, "Ry?"

His head flopped a bit trying to turn in her direction in his obviously drugged up state. She smiled, but then realized he was trying to sit up. "Don't you dare," she said, gently pushing him back down.

Inside the mask Ryan's mouth opened slightly as if he was trying to speak. "No, take this," Sharpay said, handing him the notebook and a pen.

Ryan looked at his fingers for a moment and wiggled them before he grasped the pen and scrawled something onto the paper. Taking it from him, Sharpay could feel her breath suddenly catch at the words.

"Who are you?"

Her mind raced as she looked down at him. He didn't know her? There was definitely something wrong.

"Don't you know me, Ry?" she asked, her voice high as she tried to keep tears back.

He took the pen back and wrote, "No."

Sharpay felt her throat tighten. Ryan didn't know her … he had brain damage … he'd never be the same. Just then the nurse came in. Nearly hysteric Sharpay cried out, "He doesn't know who I am!"

The nurse put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. Wait just a second, I'll check him over."

Looking down at Ryan she began, "Honey, can you tell me what your name is?"

On the paper he scrawled, "Ryan Evans."

"Now, can you tell me your birthday?"

Ryan looked at her, and his face suddenly crumpled as tears appeared in his eyes and trickled down his face.

Sharpay was on the verge of tears when he picked the pen back up and wrote in scrawling print, "I want my sister."

Sharpay could feel her brow scrunch up for a moment before she asked, "What's her name?"

Ryan paused a moment and then wrote, "Sharpay."

Sharpay was bewildered and looked toward the nurse who smiled a pitying little smile, which only served to frustrate Sharpay. "Why are you smiling? He doesn't know me, and yet he knows that Sharpay exists. That's not good."

The nurse just looked back at her with gentle understanding, "Yes, but it is possible he's just experiencing some memory loss."

"How much does he remember?" Sharpay asked, still quite panicked that her brother didn't know her.

"I'll have to talk to him some more, but from what I've heard so far, it sounds like he has Retrograde amnesia."

Sharpay's shoulders slumped slightly, "Is he going to be like this from now on?"

The nurse placed a hand on her shoulder, "We'll know more when we take the CAT scan. I just need to ask him a few more questions. Why don't you step outside and I'll call you back in when I'm done?"

Sharpay leaned against the wall and waited for the nurse to reappear at the door. Minutes later, the door opened and the woman walked out, closing the door behind her and turning to Sharpay.

"From what I can see, your brother has a mixture of retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Retrograde is when a person loses long term memories, most often forgetting people in their lives but keeping general memories intact. For instance, Ryan told me about your twelfth birthday party, but as you heard, he doesn't remember what you look like."

"That makes no sense whatsoever!" Sharpay cried out.

"I know it seems like that, but that's just the way it happens."

Sharpay stared at the floor for a moment before looking back up. "What's the other kind you said?"

"Anterograde amnesia. That's your typical short-term memory loss. Ryan doesn't remember anything about why he's here."

Sharpay folded her arms in front of her, "He has both?"

"Yes, but that's not uncommon." The nurse flashed an encouraging smile, "But it is possible that this is all temporary. Depending on the damage, amnesia can be completely gone within days or weeks. I'll get the CAT scan scheduled so we'll know for sure."

Sharpay just nodded sadly before gesturing toward the door. "Can I go back in?"

"Of course."

Sharpay opened the door and looked in at Ryan sitting, sketching in the notebook. She gave little wave in his direction. Ryan looked up, now without the oxygen mask, which was replaced with tubes that disappeared into his nose. Although there was no recognition in his eyes, Ryan smiled politely and waved back.

Sharpay smiled at that familiar grin of his, and took it as a sign that she could come in. She quickly walked in and sat back down in the chair. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," Ryan said cheerily, his voice cracking and harsh with that one syllable.

"So," Sharpay looked around the room, "What are you drawing?"

Ryan looked at her and then down at his paper, "I don't know. I think it's a turtle." Silence fell back over the room then Ryan set down his pen and looked at Sharpay, "I know you, don't I?"

Sharpay smiled at him, "I hope you do. I know you know my name."

"How do you know that?" Ryan asked, not confused, but purely curious.

Sharpay took the paper from him. "You wrote it right there."

Ryan's eyes followed her finger as it pointed to his messy writing where it said plainly, "Sharpay."

His eyes lit up, not with recognition, but with happiness. "You're my sister," he stated with an adorable smile.

It was obvious to Sharpay now why Ryan was so easy to take advantage of. Here he was with no memory and just because she, a perfect stranger, claimed to be his sister, he believed her. How could they be twins and be so different when it came to trusting people?

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm your sister."

Ryan looked at her, "I remember our party, and you were there. You were there a lot. I just," he searched for the words, "couldn't see you."

Sharpay looked at him with a look of confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I can remember things, I just can't remember faces," he explained with the slightest of shrugs.

Sharpay nodded a bit, "Do you remember why you're here?"

"Nope," he seemed to think for a long minute. "But I'm really sore. What happened?"

Sharpay considered telling him for a minute, "If you don't remember within a week I'll tell you. You might remember on your own."

"That seems fair," Ryan smiled. "What do I call you?"

"What?"

"Do you have a nickname?"

Sharpay blushed a little. All in the same moment, the boy in front of her was a complete stranger and yet he was still purely Ryan. Ryan had always been the only one to see her softer side, and no one but Ryan had ever seen her blush, "Um, you call me 'Shar' sometimes."

"I like that," Ryan said enthusiastically. "Apparently I can think up a mean nickname."

Sharpay let out a little laugh and Ryan grinned infectiously, "I have a beautiful sister with a beautiful laugh. I bet most guys aren't as lucky as me."

She gave him the smallest of smacks on his arm. Ryan was Ryan … it didn't matter if he couldn't remember.

"You know, it's weird," Ryan began a little more reflectively. "I can remember a lot, but not anything worth remembering."

"Like what?" Sharpay asked.

"Like I can remember songs and dances, even places and events, but as hard as I try, I can't remember people. And people are more important than anything." He looked at the ceiling as if trying to remember something, "Friends … I mean, do I have friends?"

Sharpay smiled in comprehension, "You have lots of friends that are all worried sick about you."

"Well, I don't want them to be worried; I just wanted to make sure I had some. And parents … where are our parents?"

Sharpay's heart dropped into her stomach, "Well, we have parents, but they were too far away to come here." Their stupid parents that couldn't even come when their son had nearly died.

Ryan sensed her mood change, "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, Shar."

"No, don't worry … it's nothing. Mom and Dad are just … different from most parents," Sharpay said, trying to sound happy again.

Ryan felt bad that he had made his sister sad, "Well, different can be good. I think."

Sharpay smiled, "Yeah, different can be good."

Suddenly the door opened with the nurse striding through. "I have Ryan's CAT scan scheduled for tomorrow, and Sharpay, visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow after three."

"Can I come earlier?" Sharpay asked, eyes wide.

"No, you _can_ go to school and come when it's out."

Sharpay sighed dramatically. If Sharpay wasn't trying hard not to disturb Ryan she would have pressed the issue with much stronger terms, and she was certain that she could have eventually won the argument. But she was most concerned about her brother, and strangely about what he thought about her, and she was sure that yelling at a nurse wouldn't make a good impression.

She instead turned and said, "I'll be back tomorrow, Ry."

Ryan looked back at her with those big blue eyes, and although she knew that this Ryan didn't know her as well as … well, her Ryan … she could still tell from his look that he cared about her. He said softly, "See ya, Shar."

She could feel her face breaking into a wide smile before she turned around and left.

**-HSM--HSM** **--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--**

It had been terribly hard for Sharpay to begin her day without Ryan. Everything about the morning was so dull, and, of course, the constant worry in the back of her mind was that the _real_ Ryan might not come back. The one that wasn't trying to get to know her, but the one that already really knew her.

The results of that CAT scan could change their lives forever. She wondered if Ryan knew how important it was. She wondered if he cared. After all, he couldn't remember life any differently than he knew it now, so why would he want something that may or may not have been better?

When Sharpay had finally reached her locker at East High she did her best not to look at the locker next to hers, where her brother should have been carefully adjusting his hat or lining up his books. But what made the entire morning worse was that she knew she would have to face the Wildcats.

The moment of truth came earlier than expected when the entire gang rounded the corner of the hallway and saw Sharpay. Sharpay searched for a way to escape the dreaded conversation, but there was no way out.

Kelsi ran up, bolder than Sharpay had ever seen. "Sharpay!" she called out. "How's Ryan? Is he okay?"

Sharpay didn't turn to look at her, but focused on fidgeting with her papers in her locker, "I don't want to talk about it." She wasn't sure it would work, but it was worth a shot.

"Please, Sharpay," Kelsi pleaded behind her.

Sharpay spun around, slamming the locker as she turned. "Fine!" She glared at all of the Wildcats, "He has amnesia and the doctors don't know if it's permanent. He didn't even remember me, much less any of you ninnies. Now leave me alone."

With that, Sharpay strutted off, and when she was out of sight, she ran to the bathroom where she leaned over the sinks. She took a deep breath trying to clear her head, but it suddenly hit her harder than it had even when she had been talking with Ryan. Her brother, her twin, didn't know her. The only person she had let see her as she truly was hadn't even known her face.

Ryan had been so polite and sweet, all-together Ryan so that Sharpay had forgotten that he had no idea who she was. But if any other person had walked into that room claiming to be his sister, he would have acted the same way.

With that thought, Sharpay could feel her eyes filling. Looking into the mirror Sharpay watched her figure turn into a blur before suddenly clearing, revealing a figure behind her while large drops slid down her cheeks.

Sharpay swiped at the tears before murmuring, "Go away," as harshly as she could.

Kelsi stood still, unsure of how to react; part of her knew that maybe what Sharpay needed was a shoulder to cry on. The other part of her was nervous, afraid that she was misreading Sharpay's actions.

All of a sudden Sharpay spun around to face Kelsi, eyes flashing. She growled, "I said, 'go away.'"

Kelsi's eyes went wide, and she hesitated only a moment more before she flew out of the bathroom and to the safety of the auditorium and her friend, the piano. She dropped onto the bench and ran her hands across the keys in reflection before she began to play, attempting to release the heaviness in her heart and almost unconsciously starting to play _Everyday_.

Walking by in the hallway, Sharpay stopped and listened. Kelsi wasn't singing, but for some reason Sharpay could hear a voice. The words fell over her, and suddenly, she fell back against the wall, eyes wide. The voice was coming from nowhere, and yet she would know it anywhere; it was Ryan's voice. All of a sudden Sharpay felt better, her heart calmed, and her tears stopped.

And in the auditorium, Kelsi felt calmed, too, unaware of the voice she was accompanying.

**-HSM--HSM** **--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--HSM--**

Sharpay flew through the doors of UNM Children's Hospital, wishing the stupid elevator would hurry up. The next few minutes could change their lives forever, and she was ready to face it. Since hearing the voice in the hallway, the meeting with the doctor hadn't seemed quite so scary. However the thought of talking with the new Ryan still made her a bit subdued.

After signing in at the front desk, Sharpay walked quickly down to Ryan's room. Opening the door, she saw a welcome sight.

Ryan was sitting up with fewer machines surrounding him than the day before. He wasn't hooked up to oxygen, and although he was still incredibly pale, he looked nearly healthy.

Ryan looked up from his notebook when she came in. "Hey, Shar!"

She smiled a bit … he had remembered her name, "Hey, Ry."

"The test results will be back in a bit," Ryan said cheerfully. "I already had the scan."

Sharpay just nodded, "That's good to know." In Sharpay's opinion, Ryan seemed a bit more with it today.

Ryan looked a bit downhearted at her short responses, and Sharpay, in turn, didn't want to say too much that would confuse him.

Ryan tried again, "So, how was school?"

Sharpay shrugged, "Fine…long."

Ryan gave her a searching look and decided to not give up his hope of conversation, "So, did Jason say anything amusing?"

Sharpay just sat there passively, "No, he didn't." Ryan searched his mind for something else while Sharpay sat there. _He's about to find out what his future holds and all he can think about is school and Jason … Jason? Holy-_

"How did you know Jason?" Sharpay demanded, startling Ryan.

"Umm … we've known him for years," he paused, eyes slightly wide. "What?"

Sharpay was now standing, staring at him, heart thumping, "What about the rest of them? Who's the guy with the afro?"

Ryan was now completely bewildered, "Chad . But Shar-"

"And the girl who's smart and is going out with Troy?"

"Gabriella, but-"

"And do our parents act like jerks?"

"That's kind of harsh, but sometimes-?"

Sharpay just stared at Ryan, her face completely swallowed in a huge smile that made her entire being glow. She could feel the tears prickle in her eyes. Sharpay said softly, "You're back."

Ryan's eye-brows went up, "I never left."

Sharpay just kept on grinning, "Right." Her heart was too full to describe the hurt of yesterday during the joy of today. "You never left."

Just then the door opened, letting in Dr. Collins who also wore a smile on his face. Sharpay turned to him, "Ryan knows things!"

Dr. Collins smiled, "Yes, he does. After looking at the images from the CAT scan, I can report that you have no permanent brain damage, Mr. Evans. You still have some lingering retrograde amnesia, but again, that's common after accidents such as yours. In a few days you probably won't remember this conversation, and you might be a little forgetful in the near future, but after that you'll be as good as new."

Ryan and Sharpay looked at each other and smiled happily. Sharpay then turned to the doctor again, "But what was with the major forgetfulness … like when he forgot me?"

Ryan's eyes went wide at this new piece of information.

Dr. Collins nodded, "We found the cause for that too. In Ryan's painkillers he had some Benzodiazepine, or benzo, which is used as a type of sedative. It also is often an agent which causes anterograde amnesia, the type that enables the mind to forget people or long-term memory. With the extra trauma from the accident, the benzo from the painkillers came in contact with his hippocampus, causing the reaction we saw. The benzo is almost out of his system, resulting in an instantaneous healing, if you will."

Sharpay let out a strange little laugh of relief and waited for Dr. Collins to continue.

"We still want to keep Ryan under observation for a while, but if he does well, he'll be home by Friday."

Sharpay wasn't the squealing type, so instead she turned back to Ryan and gave him the hug she had wanted to give him since she had seen him on the floor in the gym. With her head away from the eyes of the world she let a few joyful tears trickle down her face. Ryan held her, and although he wasn't completely sure what had happened, he knew that it was good.

Sharpay sat down on the chair next to him, tears in her eyes, the room back to holding only the twins. Dr. Collins had slipped out unnoticed during Sharpay's sudden victory hug.

She was still smiling, but it began failing when she looked into Ryan's face. The joy from a moment ago was gone and he looked profoundly sad.

"Ry, what's wrong?" Sharpay asked, concerned that something had happened.

Ryan looked ashamed, looking down at his hands, not meeting his sister's eyes. Sharpay put her hand under his chin and brought his face around to look at her. She dropped her hand when she saw that Ryan had tears in his eyes. "Ry?"

Ryan bit his lip, "I broke my promise …" letting his voice trail off.

"Ry-" Sharpay began.

"No," Ryan murmured. "I promised I'd always be there, but I wasn't. I wasn't anywhere … I mean where was I? Because I sure wasn't talking to you yesterday. I don't even remember yesterday. You needed me, and … I'm a liar."

Sharpay closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment before looking Ryan straight in the eye. "You were there; today, in the hall, I heard you singing."

Ryan gave her a confused frown, "But that's impossible … I was here."

Sharpay felt a bit discouraged, "I know, but I heard it. It wasn't like anyone else could hear it … it was like your voice singing in my head."

"I'd like to believe I didn't break my promise, but-"

Sharpay's mouth dropped open causing Ryan to stop talking, ending instead with a, "What?"

Sharpay picked up the notebook from Ryan. Neatly printed on the sheet in front of her was, "Everyday," with the lyrics written neatly below. Around the words was a border made of intertwining flowers and vines. Looking closer at the vines she realized they said something, too. A moment later she saw it: first an S, then a flowing H curving into A-R-P-A-Y.

Dropping the notebook she looked at Ryan, "It's possible," she whispered.

Ryan looked at what he had written and somehow seemed to understand, "It's a twin thing," he said with a small smile.

Sharpay just smiled again as a few more tears trickled down her cheeks. "Just never scare me like that again, and you won't need to sing."

Ryan smiled but didn't say anything: after all, you should only make promises you know you can keep.

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**So...how was that? Hopefully worth the painfully long wait. Chapter nine SHOULD (cross your fingers) be coming somewhat soon-ish, but no promises. We're really busy right now. But we'd love to hear from you in reviews. Good or bad: just send 'em our way, and we'll try to fix things up for you if there's a problem or graciously accept any encouragement you may be willing to give.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: WOW! This year has been majorly crazy for both me and my friend, and we've had a hard time trying to get new chapters and stories out to you guys. We're so sorry this took so long, but here it is. Chapter nine of _Go the Distance_. Finally! Again, we apologize for the extremely long wait and hope you guys will understand and enjoy this chapter.**

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Ryan was bored. He hated to admit it because he normally was very good at entertaining himself after years without friends. He could amuse himself for hours by writing a song, creating a story in his mind, or playing the piano, but here he was, stuck inside the massive house with a mind empty of ideas.

Sharpay was at school with the rest of his friends but Ryan had been told to "take it easy," which meant staying home to amuse himself. After his PE scare, Ryan had been trapped in the hospital for a week, and was released only to be told that he would be stuck at home for another couple of weeks at least. Three weeks had passed so far.

Ryan was still incredibly sore, presumably from the emergency surgeries, but breathing was getting easier day by day. He had noticed improvement even while he was still in the hospital, and now he was certain he was well enough to return to normal life. Unfortunately Dr. Collins didn't agree, and so now Ryan was stuck sitting on his bed, strumming his guitar hoping inspiration would come to take him out of his current slump.

The first day that Ryan had been home, his mom had come to see him and pretended to dote on him. Ryan tried to convince himself that she really cared, but try as he might, he could see the look in her eyes that searched for a means, any means, of escape. Although he longed for her to stay and be a real mom, Ryan had told her that he was feeling good and that he would prefer the silence. She was packed in minutes and out the door within the hour.

Something that hadn't occurred to Ryan for a couple of days at the hospital was that he had missed a chemo treatment. When he first realized it, Ryan was extremely happy that he had dodged the worst part of his month. After he had contemplated it more, he realized that the lack of a chemo treatment also meant the lack of something that could cure him. He understood that he would have to be physically better before he could restart treatment, and in that time, the cancer could have time to spread.

The weakness his body was experiencing was probably from his latest escapade, but he now wondered if part of it was his body losing the battle. It terrified him to think of it, but it was a very real possibility.

But even as all of these ominous thoughts drifted around in his mind, Ryan could honestly say he didn't care, because the most imminent problem he was facing was the boredom. The day before, Ryan had tried to learn a tap dance routine for fun, but less than half way through he had doubled up with pain and given up, hoping that Sharpay wouldn't find out how stupid he had been.

Ryan had never really enjoyed watching TV for hours on end, yet he had spent two days last week channel surfing and had discovered that he had good reasons for keeping the TV off. He was certain he would never enjoy watching movies again after he had watched them all at least once. At this point, most people would pull out a book to read, but Ryan had dyslexia, and reading could be a struggle. He was better at reading than he had been when he was little, but it was still more difficult for him than your average person, making reading "for fun" not nearly as much "fun."

Going outside and practicing basketball or pitching was out of the question on many levels, and when he had gone outside for a walk, he had been ordered by Fulton to remain indoors. Ryan hadn't ever been one to _long_ to be outside—he usually just went outdoors without a second thought. But now, he stared outside at the gorgeous sunny day and learned what pining felt like.

The word pining sounded to him like a cat scratching at the door and releasing desperate mews with a sense of calm craze. Yes, it sounded like an oxymoron, but it was the idea that, on the outside, you seem calm, but inside you are so ready to burst that your head feels light, your sight is hampered, and you want something so much that you are nearly in desperate tears. Looking outside, Ryan could feel himself ready to lose it.

But one of the most irritating things about his predicament was that Sharpay had thrown every article of clothing that Ryan owned into his closet and locked the door, keeping the key with her. She only left plenty of flannel pants and t-shirts for him to wear. She had simply explained that she was making sure he would be comfortable while he rested at home, but Ryan knew that it also acted as a means to keep him from leaving the house. Ryan would never go anywhere wearing flannel pants and a t-shirt.

It also meant that he tended to hide in his room when anyone stopped by to say "hi." Ryan had every reason to be furious at Sharpay, but he found he couldn't be. Sharpay was just worried about him and was doing her best to take care of him.

Checking his watch again, he giddily noticed that school should be out, which meant Sharpay would come home soon. This filled him with hope and dread at the same time. He longed for human company, and he loved his sister dearly, but she would have him lying down for the rest of the day, and he would do it because it would make her feel better.

Suddenly, Ryan jerked up on his bed at the sound of the doorbell. Company! Shar never came through the front door, so it had to be someone else!

Ryan jumped out of bed (though it was more a pained roll off of his bed) and made his way as quickly as his battered body could move, forgetting the blue t-shirt with "Lava Springs" printed neatly on it and his matching plaid flannel pants.

Ryan threw the door open without checking who it was and became excited at the sight of Kelsi standing before him. Just as Kelsi lifted her arm to give a nervous wave, Ryan cried out, "Kelsi!"

At Ryan's unexpected greeting, Kelsi's nervousness vanished and she just smiled back with a, "Hey, Ryan."

Flushed with happiness Ryan stepped back from the door, gesturing Kelsi inside. "Come on in!"

Ryan led the way into the living room. "Sharpay should be home any moment, so—"

"Actually," Kelsi cut in, "that's why I'm here. Sharpay is hanging out with Zeke today, so she asked that I come over to check on you and keep you company."

Ryan's mouth slowly formed into an 'O' and then he grinned, "I can live with that." Kelsi sat down on one couch and Ryan took the one facing her.

Kelsi smiled shyly before saying, "I haven't seen much of you since the … erm … accident. How are you feeling?"

Ryan shrugged, "I was pretty miserable for awhile, but I'm good as new now. And I am so sick of this house, its not even funny. Shar and Fulton won't even let me go outside."

Kelsi looked at him sympathetically, "That stinks. But I know they just want to protect you. They were really worried when you were sick."

Ryan nodded guiltily, "I know."

Kelsi looked at Ryan seriously, "Sharpay was really nasty to everybody the entire time you were in the hospital. You couldn't get anywhere near her without her snapping your head off. Just ask Gabriella."

Ryan smiled a little, "She snapped my head off as soon as I was well enough that she thought the stress wouldn't kill me."

They both fell quiet, both deep in thought. Kelsi's voice broke the silence.

"It was really weird seeing you in the hospital."

Ryan nodded, "I'm sorry."

Kelsi tilted her head to the side. "You don't have to be sorry—it wasn't your fault. I was just … I was really worried."

Ryan nodded again, eyes never leaving his sock-clad feet.

Kelsi paused, "I guess it was more than worried. I was scared, Ryan. I thought you were going to die. Not when you were in the hospital as much, I guess, but in the gym and when we were waiting at Troy 's house, I just kept thinking I would never see you again. I mean, you died right in front of us, and … I didn't want to lose you. I don't know what I would do without you …" Her voice trailed off.

Ryan looked up sympathetically and said softly, "Kelsi … I'm so sorry. I wish people wouldn't worry. I'll be fine."

"Right," Kelsi murmured sarcastically.

"Kelsi," Ryan paused and took a deep breath. He got up and knelt on the floor trying to catch her eyes. "Can you look at me for a sec.?"

Kelsi looked up curiously seeing the seriousness written on Ryan's face.

"Kelsi," Ryan began again, "I … I think I like you!" he blurted out. Kelsi's eyes went wide in surprise, and Ryan's face turned bright flaming red, and an uncomfortable silence fell throughout the room.

As Kelsi didn't answer, Ryan began to get more and more uncomfortable. Sharpay had been wrong; Kelsi didn't like him and now their friendship would be over. And even if Kelsi would never date him, he needed her friendship.

Feeling humiliated under Kelsi's shocked glance, Ryan began to rise and turned around in an attempt to leave the room with some dignity intact.

"I like you, too." The voice was so soft that Ryan wasn't sure he had actually heard it, but he stopped anyway without turning around. His imagination had been running wild from his days of being alone in this big house; Kelsi couldn't actually have said-

"I like you, too." The voice was louder this time, and, although still embarrassed, Ryan turned around and saw Kelsi standing in front of the couch looking at him with shining eyes.

Ryan paused, heart pounding in his chest, but he walked a step closer to her as he tried to keep his voice steady, "Kelsi … will you … will you go on a date with me?"

Kelsi smiled, "I would love to, Mr. Evans."

Ryan just stared back at her, grinning. Suddenly, his face fell, and Kelsi grew concerned as she watched him.

"What is it, Ryan?"

Mournfully, Ryan said, "I can't go anywhere. I'm not allowed out of the house."

Kelsi had trouble containing her laughter at how sweet and serious Ryan was. "I have an idea. When I was little my Mom and I would have indoor picnics on rainy days. She'd get a big quilt and spread it on the floor and we'd eat all sorts of picnic-y foods like sandwiches and chips. And then we would play indoor volleyball with a balloon."

Ryan grinned, "That sounds like fun!"

Kelsi smiled, "Then it's a date!"

The two laughed and blushed in unison at the thought of their time together being "a date."

"We could do it now," Ryan suggested. "It's almost dinner time."

Kelsi grinned, "That sounds great! Just let me call my mom and let her know I'm staying here for dinner."

"And I'll call Sharpay and try to see when she's coming home."

They smiled in true embarrassed teenager form before Kelsi broke off their shared look and pulled out her cell phone. Ryan grabbed his phone, too, after watching Kelsi leave the room.

The phone rang five times before Sharpay picked up.

"Ryan?" Sharpay answered, sounding a little concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine! I was just wondering when you were going to be home."

"Well, Zeke's mom invited me for dinner so we can study more."

Ryan grinned, "That's great Shar."

"Do you need me?"

Ryan smiled, "I think I'll be fine. Kelsi said she'd be fine hanging out and eating dinner here."

"Great! Then I'll see ya later!"

"Thanks, Shar. See ya."

Kelsi wasn't back, so Ryan went over to the linen closet and pulled out a quilt to spread on the floor before laying out placemats, silverware, and placing a flower arrangement in the middle. Then he practically ran to his room and searched through his drawer, found what he was looking for, and hurried back to the kitchen to begin the sandwiches.

Kelsi appeared back in the kitchen, saying, "My mom says I can stay. What can I help with?"

Ryan turned from where he was spreading mayonnaise onto his bread and said cheerily, "You can tell me what you'd like on your sandwich."

Kelsi smiled, "I can make the sandwiches if you can get everything else. I don't quite know my way around the kitchen or what else you take on picnics."

"In that case," Ryan handed Kelsi the knife with mayonnaise with much ceremony. "Your utensil of sandwich-making." Then he walked to the refrigerator to pull out a pile of baggies with various cheeses and sandwich meats which he set carefully on the counter.

Kelsi's eyes widened when she saw how many choices they had. Ryan grinned sheepishly, "I can't cook anything beyond a sandwich, so we stocked up on deli foods when we found out I'd be homebound for awhile."

Kelsi was intently looking at each package with something akin to wonder before catching Ryan's amused eyes and blushing furiously. A moment later, Ryan's laugh filled the room followed closely by Kelsi's short giggles. Though it really wasn't that funny, both Ryan and Kelsi felt so full of happiness that it didn't matter.

Before Kelsi could even open her mouth to ask Ryan what he wanted his sandwich to be, Ryan said, "Surprise me," before turning to rummage through cupboards for Bugles, Cheetos, cottage cheese, strawberry yogurt, and the fudge he had carefully hidden beyond the codfish oil since he had found it in his Christmas stocking last year. With arms full, Ryan stumbled into the family room to set them tidily around the quilt, adding a battery powered lantern in the middle for light.

Kelsi came in moments later with their sandwiches, and Ryan anxiously helped her set them at their places and sit down. With a wide smile he couldn't seem to wipe off of his face, he peered at Kelsi.

In confusion and amusement Kelsi asked, "What?"

Ryan flicked on the little lantern and quickly walked over to turn off the regular overhead lights. The lantern gave off a warm glow in the darkness, and Kelsi smiled, "It's like being outside."

Instead of answering, Ryan hastily made his way back towards the blanket, but instead of joining Kelsi, he bent over by a little round machine and flicked another switch. Suddenly, stars danced above them on the ceiling, spinning slowly around like a lazy disco ball.

"Oh, Ryan!" Kelsi said in awed delight. "It's … it's perfect."

With the same wide smile on his face, Ryan took his seat beside her on the blanket, and soon, the two were laughing at some silly joke that no one in the world would understand. But when you're that happy and in good company, the most mundane things can fill your belly with that gurgling laughter that can't be choked back.

Ryan practically inhaled his sandwich, never bothering to find out what it was, and waited for Kelsi to finish. He was practically bouncing with anticipation to play balloon volleyball like Kelsi had suggested. On top of that, he was feeling better than he had for weeks, perhaps even months. Having Kelsi gave him a strange strength and put him in a good humor.

Kelsi seemed to understand what Ryan wanted to do and quickly finished up her meal, then the two carefully put away every jar and baggy and put every dish in the washer without the thought crossing either mind that usually you didn't do dishes during dates.

Turning to Ryan, who was just starting the dishwasher, Kelsi asked, "Do you still want to play balloon volleyball?"

A grin split Ryan's face, "Yeah!"

A line of throw pillows from the couch soon acted as a net and a blue balloon had been mysteriously procured from somewhere in the hall closet. It slowly floated up in the air when Kelsi served it giving Ryan ample time to reach the falling balloon. He hit it back up and watched its twisting course back over to Kelsi.

After several long volleys, Kelsi, in a desperate attempt to hit the poorly placed balloon, hit it and watched in fascination as the balloon started to fall short of Ryan's reach; but her gaze turned to horror as she watched Ryan try to dive for it. Ryan's momentary triumph turned to burning pain as he hit on his stomach and his already bruised organs.

Giving a little groan, Ryan turned over onto his side to relieve the pressure on his stomach and chest as Kelsi hurried over the pillow barricade, concern evident in her face and verging on terror.

"Ryan, are you okay?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

Ryan smiled in an attempt to alleviate that worried expression in her eyes. "I'm fine, Kels. Really."

Kelsi watched him while he began to get his breath back before saying, "You win … and we're done with that for tonight."

"Good plan," Ryan agreed with a grimace as he sat up.

"Hello?" A door slammed and Sharpay's voice called from the foyer.

"We're in here, Shar!" Ryan answered back, quickly getting himself into a more casual position, hoping that Sharpay would still be too much on cloud nine to notice his pain and ask what he had done.

The click of heels sounded on hardwood floor, and Sharpay entered with a glowing, eerily happy face, sitting down on a couch and looking down at her brother and Kelsi sitting on the floor.

After looking them each in the face for a moment, she grinned, "So, what, are you guys together?"

Two identical blushes lit up Ryan and Kelsi's faces before Ryan caught Kelsi's eyes and said, "Yeah, I guess we're together."

If possible, Kelsi blushed even more with the happiness that those words filled her with.

Sharpay just smiled and walked away, but not before Ryan and Kelsi heard her say, "Finally."

* * *

**And I'm sure everyone echoes Sharpay's little sentiment there (in more ways than one). Again, apologies all around. Reviews, good or bad, are always appreciated. Constructive criticism and encouragement are most welcome. Thanks so much for reading, and hopefully we can churn out chapter 10 more quickly! **

**Also, there's a poll up on my homepage --right now my friend is torn between a few potential endings. So your input would be helpful. See my profile page for the poll, and, again, thanks so much for reading. We hope you enjoyed it.**


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